Protests on renaming of Shamshabad airport disrupt Rajya Sabha

New Delhi, Nov 25: The Rajya Sabha saw several disruptions Tuesday on the first working day of the winter session, losing its question hour to protests. Congress leaders protested the re-naming of a part of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. The upper house witnessed a five-minute adjournment just before 12 noon as Congress members said renaming the Hyderabad airport was "unacceptable". "The arbitrary change of the name of the Hyderabad airport... It was Rajiv Gandhi airport. This is unacceptable. We will not allow the house to run," Congress leader Anand Sharma said before the question hour was to start at noon. As Congress members raised slogans, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the house for five minutes. When the house met again for the question hour, the Congress members were near the chairman's podium, raising slogans. Chairman M. Hamid Ansari asked the members to return to their seats. As the protest continued, Ansari adjourned the house till 1 p.m., revising it to 2 p.m. soon after. When the house met again at 2 p.m., normal business was resumed as members bid farewell to retiring members. Ansari was also seen directing the secretariat staff to note down the names of all those who came near the chairman's podium. According to reports, the domestic terminal of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, is to be named after the late N.T. Rama Rao, founder of the Telugu Desam Party. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu Thursday said the civil aviation ministry has passed the orders for the change.