Actor and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Paresh Rawal has proposed renaming of the Navi Mumbai International Airport, which Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced will be named after former Kolaba MP and activist Dinkar Balu Patil, to posthumously honour the late business tycoon Ratan Tata, who died on Wednesday, October 9.
“The new airport at Navi Mumbai should be Named after Shri RATAN TATA,” Rawal said in an X post, igniting a debate.
Having clocked over a million views since Friday, the Hera Pheri star’s suggestion baited users into putting their own ideas about a name-change forward.
A section of the internet agrees with Rawal, with about 3,500 reposts endorsing his proposal, while some struggled to grasp the seemingly-abrupt surge in Ratan Tata tributes.
“I don't know why after Ratan Tata's death, people of India have started seeing so many qualities in him that the demand for giving him Bharat Ratna has suddenly started rising. Then there is talk of naming an airport after him,” read a comment.
Many, however, had counterproposals.
Kreately, a far-right publication, insinuated that the Tata Group has a controversial past, which is why the Navi Mumbai airport should be named after Hindu nationalist figurehead Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
“Navi Mumbai International Aiport (NMIA) is how it should be. There is no historical relevance or any active participation of Tata in Navi Mumbai,” argued another Xer.
“No. It should be named after JRD Tata,” said one. “That's what Ratan Tata would have wanted. That's what the entire aviation community has been crying about.”
For some, a second Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is the only acceptable solution.
However, it’s unlikely that the Maharashtra government will reconsider the decision to name the new airport after DB Patil, a local icon who led the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) and represented Kolaba twice in the Lok Sabha.
The facility is owned by the Adani Group subsidiary Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), which has a 74%. The rest belongs to the Airport Authority of India.
Recently, the Indian Air Force conducted both the airport's maiden flight, with an Airbus C-295 , and a ceremonial flypast with a Sukhoi SU-30.