Chief Minister Hemant Soren has demanded Deoghar Airport to be named as Baba Baidyanath Airport. The Chief Minister in this connection has written a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to name the Deoghar Airport as Baba Baidyanath Airport.
The Chief Minister in his letter stated that ‘the city of Deoghar is identified as Baba Baidyanath Dham and the people of the region strongly feel that the airport must operate under the aegis of Baba Baidyanath.”
The Chief Minister in his letter to Scindia also highlighted that the Government of Jharkhand recognized this and out of total cost of Rs 850 crore Jharkhand has contributed more than Rs 600 crores including the cost of providing land towards the project.
Sources said that the demand for naming Deoghar Airport as Baba Baidyanath Dham is set to be politicized. The Chief Minister’s demand for naming the airport as Baba Baidyanath is seen as a master stroke of Soren, the BJP will never want to refuse the demand of Soren nor will it acknowledge the Chief Minister for making such a demand.
BJP MP from Ranchi Sanjay Seth welcoming the demand of Chief Minister Hemant Soren said, “Baba Baidyanath is master of Universe.” However, he refused to say anything on Chief Minister Soren’s remark that out of total cost of Rs 850 crore Jharkhand has contributed more than Rs 600 crores including the cost of providing land towards the project.
Baidyanath Jyotirlinga temple, also commonly referred to as the Baidyanath Dham, is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga in India and is considered to be the most sacred abode of Lord Shiva. As Lord Baidyanath is household deity in Santhal Pargana, Chief Minister’s demand for naming the airport will consolidate his position among Hindu community.
The Chief Minister though his letter also highlighted that the Deoghar airport is being built for the benefit of the millions of the tourists who visit Deoghar every year to pay offerings to Baba Baidyanath, which is important to the development of religious tourism in the State.
Sources said that the Airport is likely to be operational from September as the Civil Aviation Ministry is planning for formal inauguration of the airport on September 17 the day which coincides with the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The airport, once completed, will be the second airport in the State after Ranchi. The airport will be capable of handling flights including large aircraft and is expected to boost regional connectivity and tourism.
This airport is being jointly developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Jharkhand government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of this airport on May 25, 2018.