Nearing inauguration, clamour to name Navi Mumbai airport after D B Patil intensifies

Chief Minister Fadnavis has publicly stated that the airport will bear Patil’s name, but locals argue that years of delay without a written order have eroded their trust

MUMBAI: With the Navi Mumbai International Airport expected to be inaugurated in the next few days, local political leaders and outfits in Raigad and Thane districts are gearing up to demand that it be named after the late D B Patil. Patil was a politician who led the agitation of people in Raigad against the acquisition of their land for building the satellite city.

Nearing inauguration, clamour to name Navi Mumbai airport after D B Patil intensifies

Bhiwandi MP Suresh Mhatre on Tuesday announced a march to the airport site on October 6 and also threatened to block its inauguration if the notification for naming was not issued by the central government. The airport is likely to be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on October 8.

“Until the airport is officially named after D B Patil, there will be no inauguration,” Mhatre announced in Thane. “Chief Minister Fadnavis visited Navi Mumbai and Thane last week but made no statement on the airport-naming issue.” Although Mhatre and some others have announced a protest march, the ruling Mahayuti leaders from the area are taking a softer approach, relying on chief minister Fadnavis to sort things out.

On Tuesday, senior BJP leader and former MP Ramseth Thakur, vice-president of the Loknete D B Patil NMIA All Party Action Committee—which has pushed for the demand over the past few years—distanced the committee from the morcha. “The Centre has confirmed that there is only one proposal under consideration,” he said. Thakur’s son and Panvel BJP MLA Prashant Thakur, also a committee member, reiterated this, saying that the Maharashtra government had already passed a resolution and the Centre had acknowledged only one proposal. “If any other name is given, I will resign as an MLA,” he said.

The question of identity

The background to the naming demand is the sentiments of the local Agri and Koli communities in Raigad and Thane districts who over the years lost their land as the government developed Navi Mumbai, the Thane-Belapur industrial corridor, JNPT port and the Navi Mumbai International Airport. The communities feel that the area should have their imprint, and the late D B Patil has become a symbol of this.

“Navi Mumbai was built by acquiring 50,000 acres of land owned by the Agri and Koli community in Raigad and Thane in the 1980s,” said Pravin Puro, a senior journalist from Raigad. “Initially, the government offered them ₹15,000 per acre, which was not enough. There were agitations in which four people died. Following this, Patil, a leader of the agitation, came up with a formula: that landowners should be given 12.5% of the land acquired in the form of a developed plot in new townships.”

Puro said that local communities were grateful to Patil for the solution he provided. “That is why the demand has a lot of emotional support,” he said. “Of course, identity politics also plays a part.”

For a long time, the political leadership in Thane and Raigad was with the Agri community which was a major landholder. However, with growing industrialisation and urbanisation, non-Agri leaders entered the space and became dominant except in Raigad. The Agri-Koli presence is significant in Thane, Raigad and parts of Palghar, and at least half a dozen MLAs from these areas and one MP (Mhatre) come from the Agri community. Navi Mumbai is represented by three MLAs—Ganesh Naik (Airoli), Manda Mhatre (Belapur) and Prashant Thakur (Panvel), all of whom come from the same community, which takes pride in being bhoomiputras or sons of the soil.

With the crucial local body elections round the corner, the role of the two communities will be important. Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts have eight municipal corporations and several smaller civic bodies in addition to three zilla parishads or district councils. This area will also witness a fierce political battle between the ruling BJP, Shiv Sena and opposition MVA, especially the Thackeray brothers. Given this, no political party can afford to ignore the demand of the Agri-Koli community.

The MVA government, which came to power in 2019, initially wanted to name the airport after Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, following which there were protests in Raigad. It then accepted the locals’ demand, and a proposal to name the airport after D B Patil was sent to the central government.

Mhatre reiterated that the demand dated back to 2008, and said that naming the airport after Patil was about honouring a leader who fought for the rights of locals and women. “Patil is a symbol of empowerment and it will be a matter of pride for the bhoomiputras,” she said.

Chief Minister Fadnavis has publicly stated that the airport will bear Patil’s name, but locals argue that years of delay without a written order have eroded their trust. Top officials of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which is the nodal agency for building the airport, chose not to comment on the issue.

(Inputs by G Mohiuddin Jeddy and Kaptan Mali)