Governor Ram Naik with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at Lok Bhawan. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Monday that a 25 ft statue of Atal Bihar Vajpayee will be built in Lok Bhawan premises.
He made the announcement at Lok Bhawan, where BJP leaders including Governor Ram Naik and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had gathered to pay tribute to the late prime minister on his 95th birth anniversary.
“This is the office of the chief minister. Here we hold Cabinet meetings. Different works of the government take place in this building,” Adityanath said.
Vajpayee’s (vote)bankable legacy
He added, “Jahan par aaj pushpanjali di hai Atal ji ko, wahin par Atal ji ki 21 m statue lagane ka nirnaya kiya hai (Where we offered floral tributes to Atal ji is where the statue will come up).”
A government spokesperson later clarified that the statue would be 25 ft tall.
The chief minister also said that the government had decided to mark the day as ‘Sushasan Divas’ (Good Governance Day) and has organised camps for ration cards, widow pension etc. in each of the 653 municipal units as well as 823 development blocks in the state. Health camps have also been set up in every district.
He further said “the foundation of good governance in the state was laid by Vajpayee in Independent India” and the concept of APL, BPL ration cards was also started during his regime.
Over the past few months, the state government has announced construction of several statues in various parts of the state including a 221 m statue of Hindu god Ram in Ayodhya.
Last month, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, while addressing gathering of Nishads in the state capital, had announced construction of a statue of Nishadraj along with that of Ram in Shringverpur, which is around 45 km from Prayagraj.
Shringverpur is the mythical place where the Nishad king gave Sita, Ram and his brother Laxman a grand welcome.
The government is also planning a 12.5 ft statue of Vivekananda at Governor House. Moreover, 12.5 ft statues of former MPs and mahants of Gorakhnath Temple — Digvijay Nath and Avidyanath in Gorakhpur — are also in the pipeline.
