Why CM’s photo not in airport ad: BJD; not necessary, says BJP

Bhubaneswar: A day after Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Jyotiraditya Scindia took offence at Odisha government for not carrying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo in the advertisements issued ahead of the launch of maiden flight service from Bhubaneswar to Rourkela, the BJD on Sunday was upset with the missing photograph of chief minister Naveen Patnaik from an advertisement issued by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) on whose land the Rourkela airport has been built.
“The BJP was shedding tears on Saturday for not seeing Modi’s photograph on an advertisement. If they (BJP) are so kind-hearted, they should have ensured that chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s photograph remained in SAIL’s advertisement today (Sunday) in the newspapers. But they carried the photograph of Modi only. This reflects their narrow mindset,” state science and technology minister Ashok Panda said.
Responding to the criticism, Union minister Pradhan said, “The direct flight service from Bhubaneswar to Rourkela was launched for passengers, especially for people of Odisha at low price under the Centre’s UDAN scheme. The airport land belonged to the SAIL. I appreciate that the chief minister had requested the Centre for the flight service. But there was no justification in putting the CM’s photograph in SAIL’s advertisement.”
It must be noted that the civil aviation ministry spent around Rs 60 crore for the airport’s development, including its expansion and relay of runway and for creation of several other facilities. The SAIL provided additional 143 acres of land for the expansion. The Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), which owns the airport, would bear the cost of operation, which comes around to Rs 3 crore per annum. SAIL officials were not reachable.