The Uttar Pradesh government celebrated the 94th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Good Governance Day with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declaring that a 25-foot statue of the former Prime Minister would be installed outside Lok Bhawan.
“The government has decided to install Atalji’s statue outside Lok Bhawan and this will be a fitting tribute to the former Prime Minister and five time Member of Parliament from Lucknow,” Yogi said at a function held in Lucknow on Tuesday.
The function was attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Governor Ram Naik and others, including ministers in the Yogi Council of Ministers.
Yogi said that Atalji was known for sushasan (good governance) and therefore the UP government had decided to celebrate his birth anniversary as Good Governance Day.
“Atalji had the qualities of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and he learnt the intricacies of politics from Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Therefore, he always strived for betterment of the last man. The Antyodaya scheme was his brainchild and he always said that it was the dream of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya,” Yogi said.
The Chief Minister said that UP was Atalji’s ‘karma sthali’ and he started his political innings from Balrampur but was elected as MP for five times from Lucknow.
“Because of his special love for UP, the BJP government has launched many schemes after Atalji,” Yogi said.
The government had recently announced to set up a medical university after Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The first international stadium in Lucknow was also named after the late Prime Minister. The urban development scheme is also named after him. Because of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s connection with Balrampur, an extension of KGMU has been set up in that district.
In his address, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that Atalji was an epitome of decency. “Even in crisis, he remained calm. One should learn how to behave with people in public from him. I had the honour to work with him as a minister. He promoted and encouraged us to come up with ideas. As Union Agriculture Minister, the then NDA government took some revolutionary steps which helped the farming community,” Singh said.
“As an MP, I always introspect as to how Atalji would have launched a particular scheme in Lucknow. I ensure that the scheme he had conceived as MP should see the light of the day,” said Singh, the sitting MP from Lucknow.
On the occasion, Governor Ram Naik said, “Atalji was such an affable character that not only BJP leaders even leaders from the opposition sang paean to him,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the former PM’s birth anniversary, camps were held at village level and people were apprised of government schemes.