Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Friday that residential schools named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be set up in all 18 divisions of Uttar Pradesh and a 25-foot tall statue of the former prime minister would be installed at Lok Bhawan on December 25.
The Chief Minister made this announcement at an event commemorating the first death anniversary of the former Prime Minister at Lok Bhawan here.
Paying tributes to the departed leader, the Chief Minister said that Atalji was fondly remembered for his hard work, his repartee and honesty.
He recalled that the former prime minister used to often say that he was not afraid of dying but of being defamed.
“Atalji always dreamt of a ‘united India’ and his thoughts are a source of inspiration to many. The government has paid tribute to him by revoking Article 370,” he said.
Referring to the work done by the state government in the honour of Atalji, Yogi said that the Ekana Stadium in the state capital was named after him. “In addition to this, a medical university will soon be established in the state capital in his name. KGMU’s satellite centre is also being set up in Balrampur which will later be developed into a medical college. Along with this, a memorial for the great parliamentarian will be built in Bateshwar. A provision of Rs 5 crore has been made for setting up a Centre of Excellence at DAV College in Kanpur,” the Chief Minister said.
Bharatiya Janata Party state president Swatantra Dev Singh said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the man who worked hard to fulfill the dream of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. Singh said that Atalji ensured that benefits of government schemes reached the deprived sections of society.
Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma also paid tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said young people like him had learnt a lot of things from Atalji and people in opposition parties also used to come to listen to him. He said Atalji always worked to unite people and not to divide them.
In his tributes to the former prime minister, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that today Atalji would live among us through his thoughts.
