Overview
- Bhiwandi MP Suresh Mhatre announced an October 6 march to the airport site and warned the inauguration would be blocked without a central order naming D B Patil.
- The airport is reported as likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8, a date protesters say they will target absent a formal notification.
- Senior BJP leader Ramseth Thakur said the All Party Action Committee is not part of the planned morcha, while Panvel MLA Prashant Thakur said the Centre has acknowledged only one proposal.
- The Maharashtra government says it has passed a resolution to confer D B Patil’s name and forwarded it to the Centre, but no written approval has been made public.
- Support for the demand draws on Agri–Koli communities’ land-loss grievances from the 1980s and D B Patil’s legacy in negotiating compensation, while CIDCO declined to comment.