Uttarakhand cabinet ratifies renaming Jolly Grant airport after Vajpayee

The Uttarakhand cabinet has ratified a proposal to rename the Jolly Grant airport in the state capital after late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, an official said on Sunday.

The proposal will now be sent to the Aiprorts Authority of India and the Union Civil Aviation Ministry for approval. Built by the Birla industrial group in the early 80s, the Jolly Grant airport is now used to operate several flights everyday. 

A senior official said that Vajpayee was instrumental in the creation of Uttarakhand and hence renaming the airport after him would be a homage to him.

The state unit of the Congress has, however, disapproved of the move, as the Harish Rawat government had earlier sent a proposal to the Union government to rename the airport after Jagadguru Shankaracharya.