Members of the Ullal Veerarani Abbakka Utsava Samiti on Wednesday demanded that the international airport here be re-named after Rani Abbakka, who fought the Portuguese 450 years ago.
Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, Dinakar Ullal, councillor of Ullal City Municipal Council and member of the samiti which conducted the Abbakka Utsav before State government took it over, said that since the first utsav in 2015 resolutions have been passed in every utsav asking the government to re-name the airport after Rani Abbakka.
Mr. Ullal said that representations have been given to Chief Ministers and Prime Ministers, including Narendra Modi, in the matter. Mangaluru MLA U.T. Khader too has supported the demand, he added.
“This name [Rani Abbakka] was proposed first even before other names, including that of the revered twins of Tulu folklore Koti Chennayya and the former MP U. Srinivas Mallya, cropped up. The State government should fulfil this long-pending demand,” he said.
The former MLA K. Jayaram Shetty and a few other members of the utsava samiti were present.
The Congress has demanded that the airport be re-named after Koti Chennayya. Meanwhile, a group of citizens has demanded that the airport re-named as Tulunadu airport.
