CHIEF MINISTER Mulayam Singh Yadav came in for a praise from the kin of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
They appreciated the generosity shown by the Chief Minister in declaring the family’s ancestral house a national monument and releasing funds to complete various projects initiated in Shastri’s name.
The occasion was the long-awaited unveiling of the statue of Lal Bahadur Shastri’s statue at the Secretariat Annexee that was renamed as Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan, a few years ago. Speaking at the function Anil Shastri said even the Centre had not been as generous as the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government in releasing funds.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised to release a sum of Rs 20 crore for Lal Bahadur Shastri Centenary celebrations. A sum of Rs 3 crore was released, said Shastri adding that out of Rs 3 crore, a sum of Rs 1 crore had already lapsed. The SP-led government was spending a sum of Rs 12 crore, he said.
Another Shastri kin Sunil Shastri also praised the Chief Minister for being generous and accepting his demand for installing the statue. He suggested that the State Government should search for the street lantern that the late Prime Minister used for his studies. If the lantern was not available in store, the State Government should make a replica of the same and place it at the ancestral house situated at Ramnagar in Varanasi.
Shastri’s daughters-in-law Meera Shastri and Manju Shastri also attended the function where parallels were drawn between Lal Bahadur Shastri and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. CM declared that a bridge coming up near Ram Nagar in Varanasi would be named after the late Lal Bahadur Shastri.
{{/usCountry}}Shastri’s daughters-in-law Meera Shastri and Manju Shastri also attended the function where parallels were drawn between Lal Bahadur Shastri and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. CM declared that a bridge coming up near Ram Nagar in Varanasi would be named after the late Lal Bahadur Shastri.
{{/usCountry}}Shashtri, who gave ‘jai jawan, jai kisan slogan’ never compromised on principles, the Chief Minister said.
Meanwhile, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shashtri was celebrated with great enthusiasm here on Monday.
Divisional commissioner R K Mittal and the district magistrate Ramendra Triptahi unveiled the photographs of the father of the nation and the former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Collectorate on October 2.
Addressing the gathering, the divisional commissioner said India was known as the Mahatma’s land elsewhere in the world.
He also said that Gandhiji’s non-violence was accepted all over the world. Mittal threw light on the struggle of the Mahatma in South Africa.