Yogi government prepares to immortalise Vajpayee

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government is preparing to immortalise the memory of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee by naming roads and buildings after him in Lucknow, the parliamentary constituency that he represented five times in a row.

According to highly-placed sources, the state government has already started identifying places and roads that could be named after Mr Vajpayee.

“To begin with, the Scientific Convention Centre, a multi-auditorium centre that was built with Vajpayee’s MPLAD funds, will be formally named after him. The committee that runs the centre had put up a proposal to this effect in February this year but now the formalities will be completed at the earliest. This, in any case, is Mr Vajpayee’s biggest gift to his constituency,” said an official.

The 105-km-long under-construction outer ring road in Lucknow is also likely to be named as Atal Path. The outer ring road is one of the dream projects of Lucknow MP and Union home minister Rajnath Singh has been invoking the name of Mr Vajpayee on several occasions.

The Nagar Nigam is also toying with the idea of renaming Kalyan Mandaps, government community centres in the state capital, will also be named at Atal Mandaps since Vajpayee had promoted the idea of these community centres that would be available to the common man at nominal charges for weddings and other functions.

“We would also like the National Botanical Gardens in Lucknow to be named after Mr Vajpayee. He loved nature and was one politician who deserved a living memorial in his constituency,” said a senior BJP leader known for his proximity to the former PM.

A group of shop keepers form Chowk area in Lucknow have launched a signature campaign urging the state government to install a statue of Vajpayee in the Chowk roundabout and also name it as Atal Chowk. It was here that most of the traditional eateries of Lucknow are located here, the more famous being Raja ki Thandai and Radhey Lal sweets.