SHIVAMOGGA: With former Chief Minister and veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa requesting the State Government to drop the decision to name the Shivamogga airport, which is being constructed at Sogane village, after him, several other names, including that of prominent personalities, have come to the fore.
The names being suggested offline and social media now include that of Keladi rulers Shivappa Nayaka and Keladi Channamma, 12th century social reformers Allamaprabhu and Akkamahadevi, who were born in the district, BR Ambedkar, national poet Kuvempu, Sir M Visvesvaraya, Siddaganga mutt pontiff late Shivakumara Swami and others.
Some suggested naming the airport after the Malnad region. As the district is known as the Gateway to Malnad, they suggested naming the airport after the region. Some people want the government to retain the name as Shivamogga airport.
While some suggestions are based on the contribution of the great personalities, most of the suggestions are from communities to whom those personalities belonged to but never identified themselves with their respective castes when they were alive. It may be recalled here that the voice to name the airport after Yediyurappa was being heard for quite some time along with names of other great personalities.
The voice got louder when another senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa, who recently tendered resignation as RDPR minister, suggested in a programme recently that the airport should be named after Yediyurappa as because of him that the city has been blessed with the airport. Interestingly, Eshwarappa and Yediyurappa are known for internal differences among themselves.