Govt only 'restored' NTR's name to airport: Ministers

With renaming of the domestic airport terminal at Hyderabad after former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao sparking an uproar in Rajya Sabha, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Centre was only restoring the late TDP founder's name, which was dropped by Congress. 

The domestic airport's name, which the Congress had dropped while shifting the airort from Begumpet to Shamshabad, has just been restored, Sitharaman told reporters outside Parliament House in New Delhi. 

Seeking to clear the air on the controversy over allegations of removing Rajiv Gandhi's name from the Hyderabad airport, she stated that the name of the late Prime Minister would continue for the international terminal of the airport.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said that names of both Gandhi and Rao were there when the airport existed at Begumpet in Hyderabad. Our attempt was to restore NTR's name on the building. While Rajiv ji's name continues, NTR's name has been restored, he said outside Parliament House.

-PTI