Lucknow airport gets new name

New Delhi: Ajit Singh, an MP of the Rashtriya Lok Dal party, demanded to name the Lucknow airport in northern India after his father, Chaudhury Charan Singh, the late former prime minister, according to local media.

The government attempted to garner support of political parties for a crucial vote, which would decide the name of the airport.

On Thursday, P. Chidambaram, India's finance minister, announced in parliament the naming of the Lucknow airport after the former prime minister.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was forced to call a confidence vote after his communist allies withdrew their support for the government to protest a civilian nuclear deal with the US.

The Tuesday vote has spawned political alliances who have made accusations of vote-buying and of shady deal-making which has dishonoured the image of the prime minister.