Punjab, Haryana agree to name airport after Bhagat Singh

Chandigarh, August 20

A decade-old tussle came to an end today as Punjab and Haryana agreed to name the Chandigarh International Airport after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

An announcement in this regard was made after a joint meeting between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala. Mann informed about the development through his Twitter handle.

Later, Dushyant too spoke about the development, adding that he had recommended addition of word ‘Panchkula’ to the name.

The tussle between both the governments on the issue had been going on for past few years.

The Punjab Government wanted to rename the civil air terminal complex at the Chandigarh airport as ‘Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh International Airport, Mohali’, the Haryana Government had objected to the word ‘Mohali’.

Earlier, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had also passed a resolution to name the airport as Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh International Airport, Mohali.

Similarly, the Haryana Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution on renaming the terminal, but with the use of ‘Chandigarh’.

After Saturday’s meeting, Dushyant said Bhagat Singh was a martyr who has inspired the youth of every generation. He said the collective contribution of the Haryana Government, Punjab Government and Chandigarh Administration was involved in the construction and modernisation of the Chandigarh airport.

Sources said in his letter to the Punjab CM, Dushyant said the name of the airport should be Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula. The Deputy CM also said insisting on mentioning just Mohali in the name would be neglecting the contribution of the Chandigarh Administration and Haryana Government.