Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instruct the Civil Aviation Ministry to make an announcement that Madurai airport be known as Muthuramalinga Thevar International Airport.
In a letter to the Prime Minister on Thursday, Dr. Swamy said the renaming of the Madurai airport ahead of Muthuramalinga Thevar’s birthday (and death anniversary) on October 30 would set right the injustice meted out to the freedom fighter.
In 2001, he said, he had obtained permission of the then National Democratic Alliance government to rename the Madurai airport and to install a statute at the airport.
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“But persons like Mr. P. Chidambaram, former Finance Minister, and others prevented Mr. Praful Patel [then Civil Aviation Minister] from announcing it,” Dr. Swamy claimed.
Muthuramalinga Thevar was elected as Member of Parliament three times and had also created history when he was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1937, defeating the Raja of Ramanad, a pro-British King.
“Congress anti-Thevar”ADVERTISEMENT
“I had struggled hard to install his statue in Parliament House in 2000. Congress was anti-Thevar because Muthuramalinga Thevar had left the Congress to be with Netaji Subas Chandra Bose to become a member of the Forward Bloc,” Dr. Swamy said further.