AGARTALA, July 4 - A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today gave its approval to rename the Agartala airport as the Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore Airport, according to official sources.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who returned from New Delhi this evening, praised the Prime Minister for fulfilling a long-standing demand of the people of Tripura by naming the Agartala airport after Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore.
�Renaming of the Agartala Airport after Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore was a historic decision of the Union Government and it was a true tribute to the late maharaja who did a lot for the state�, the Chief Minister tweeted.
Deb was felicitated by party workers at the airport on his arrival. Thousands of BJP leaders and workers, especially from the indigenous tribes, were present in the felicitation programme.
Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore, who ascended to the throne of the erstwhile Tripura princely state in 1923, was an enlightened and benevolent ruler.
The Agartala airport was constructed in 1942 on a plot of land donated by Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore. As a visionary ruler, who had travelled extensively across the globe, he took several steps for the all-round development of the State.
Due to his initiative, an aerodrome was constructed here that has emerged as the second most busy airport in the North East providing crucial air connectivity.
