A Congress MLA from Karnataka sparked a row after proposing to rename the Mandakalli Airport in Mysuru after the 18th-century ruler Tipu Sultan. “I propose the naming of Mysuru Airport to Tipu Sultan Airport,” Prasad Abbayya, the Hubballi-Dharwad (East) MLA said during a discussion on changing airport names.
“For our Hubballi airport, we want to name it Sangolli Rayanna. We want to name Belagavi Airport after Kittur Rani Chennamma, Shivamogga airport after Rashtrakavi Kuvempu and Vijayapur Airport after Jagajyoti Basavanna,” Abbayya added.
The MLA further said, “Everybody in the assembly proposed these names, our Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and our minister MB Patil are taking special cognizance of that and sending the recommendations to the central government and I welcome this decision.”
Abbayya’s statement triggered protest from the Opposition BJP, stirring the old row over the ‘Tiger of Mysuru’. The row over Tipu Sultan goes back to 2016, when the then Congress government led by Siddaramaiah began celebrating his birthday on November 10.
Since then, Tipu Sultan has been a topic of debate on various occasions in both Karnataka and neighbouring Maharashtra.
Earlier this year in June, some Hindu outfits staged violent protests over social media posts on Tipu Sultan Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
The Karnataka government is planning to rename other airports after freedom fighters and other icons.
With inputs from News18
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