Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Tuesday announced that the state government will install a 25-feet statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Lok Bhawan in Lucknow, IANS reported. The former prime minister died in Delhi in August.
Adityanath was speaking at a function organised to celebrate Vajpayee’s 94th birth anniversary. Governor Ram Naik, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Vidhan Sabha Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit were also present on the occasion.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that his government will also install Vajpayee’s statue in Patna, The Indian Express reported. Although he did not give any details about the statue, he said the state government will soon decide upon its location.
“Atal ji had strong ties with Uttar Pradesh,” Adityanath said. “He started his public life from Balrampur in the state and represented Lucknow as an MP for five terms.”
“Atal ji was the foundation of ‘sushasan’ [good governance],” he said. “He learnt the nuances of politics from Deendayal Upadhyay and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and became a symbol of trust in politics.” In 2014, the Narendra Modi government had announced that Vajpayee’s birth anniversary would be marked as Good Governance Day.
Naik said even opponents respected Vajpayee’s towering personality and despite holding several high offices, he had the warmest regard even for an ordinary party worker and for marginalised sections of the society.
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