State proposes to name Shivamogga airport after BSY

Speaking at a function in Shivamogga on Wednesday, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai gave Yediuyurappa credit for the numerous development works in the district and said that the work of the airport would be completed at record speed because of his efforts.

Despite the opposition from the former chief minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa, the Karnataka government has decided to send a proposal to Union government to name the Shivamogga airport after him.

Karnataka government has decided to send a proposal to Union government to name the Shivamogga airport after BS Yediyurappa. (PTI)

Speaking at a function in Shivamogga on Wednesday, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai gave Yediuyurappa credit for the numerous development works in the district and said that the work of the airport would be completed at record speed because of his efforts.

“Yediyurappa had opposed naming the airport after him. The state Cabinet has decided to propose his name. However, I hope he will accept it as a token of people’s love for him,” Bommai said.

“Both Yediyurappa and KS Eshwarappa have worked for the development of Shivamogga district. The BJP government has introduced many schemes for the poor people,” he added.

In March last year, Bommai mooted naming Shivamogga Airport after Yediyurappa. However, the former chief minister formally requested the decision be dropped as it would not be ‘appropriate’.

On March 24, 2022, Yediyurappa wrote a letter to the chief minister and asked him to reconsider his decision to name the airport and drop his name for the airport in Shivamogga.

In the letter to Bommai, Yediyurappa told the CM, “I am touched by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s decision to name the Shivamogga airport after me. With all humility, I request the government to name the airport after any illustrious personality of Karnataka, which will be a befitting tribute to their contributions.”

Yediyurappa added, “Many personalities, including patriots, had served the land and contributed enormously to the region. When compared with them, my services are very few.”

Yediyurappa also suggested to the chief minister that the Shivamogga airport be named after a deserving personality after thorough discussions. “So please reconsider the decision, and after discussing it at the right platform, I request you to name the airport after any illustrious personality who has contributed to the development of the country, the state and the history,” he added.

Over the past few months, as the prominence of former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa has declined in the BJP in the state, Basavaraj Bommai has tried to emerge as a new pan-Karnataka BJP leader through a slew of measures, including the promise of job and education quotas for a range of communities.

According to senior leaders, Yediyurappa is not happy with his successor’s attempts to eclipse him as the foremost Lingayat leader through caste machinations at a time when Yediyurappa himself is politically sidelined by the BJP.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the airport on February 27, which will be his fifth visit to Karnataka since the second week of January. The renaming comes as an attempt to assuage Yediyurappa before the elections as the BJP is struggling to gain traction under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the state.