The Maharashtra government has decided to name the Navi Mumbai International airport after Shiv Sena ex-supremo Balasaheb Thackeray but the locals are agitating with a demand that the same airport should be named after local famous leader late Dinkar Balu Patil.Â
Locals had called for a protest in Raigad district on Thursday against the state government. They had formed a human chain in different cities of Raigad district including Panvel, Belapur, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Digha, etc.Â
Further, if the government doesn’t accept their demand, then on 24th June they will be calling for Gherao at the CIDCO office.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had called for a meeting concerning this issue and had invited the envoy of locals from the Raigad district. But this meeting remained questionable as locals are firm on their demand. The locals also said if not, the airport named some other major project in the Raigad district after DB Patil. But BJP MLA Prashant Thakur from Panvel who was leading the delegation of locals refused and pressed for the demand of locals to name the Navi Mumbai airport after local leader Lt. DB Patil.
City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) in its meeting held on 17th April, had passed the resolution to name the Navi Mumbai airport after Balasaheb Thackeray, hence it will be sent to the state cabinet for its approval, and once approved by the cabinet, it will be sent further to Central govt. But locals have opposed this resolution passed by CIDCO and hence a meeting was called by the CM to find a solution for the same.
BJP MLA Prashant Thakur told Afternoon Voice, “We have our famous local leader Dinkar Balu Patil, who is the son of the soil and has contributed hugely to Raigad district and its welfare; his name is an appropriate suggestion. We respect Balasaheb Thackeray but his name is already given to big projects like ‘Samruddhi Mahamarg’. Just because Uddhav Thackeray is the Chief Minister he cannot recommend his father’s name for Navi Mumbai Airport.”
Thakur further said, “The locals were not consulted by CIDCO or the state government before passing the resolution of naming the airport after late Balasaheb Thackeray, then how do you expect us to accept this decision?”
“CIDCO has a history that all their earlier projects are never named after a person but based on flowers or plants, this is the first occasion when CIDCO has passed such resolution to name after a person.”
Dinkar Balu Patil was a Member of Parliament. He was a senior member of the Peasants and Workers Party of India. Patil focused on aiding the farmers of Uran taluka in Raigad district, Maharashtra. He was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in 1958 for participation in the satyagraha on the issue of border disputes between the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He also took part in the movement for the formation of the Samyukta Maharashtra. He became a member of the Central Secretariat of Peasants and Workers Party in 1957 and was appointed its general secretary in January 1983.
