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Abrogation of Article 370 true tribute to Atal: Yogi
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said abrogation of Article 370 was the true tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said abrogation of Article 370 was the true tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Adityanath was speaking at a programme organised at Lok Bhawan to mark Vajpayee’s first death anniversary.
Vajpayee’s stand on Jammu and Kashmir was clear and he supported Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s call ‘ek desh mein do vidhan, do pradhan aur do nishan nahin chalenge (There cannot be two constitutions, two prime ministers and two flags in one nation),’ the chief minister said.
The former prime minister spread Mookerjee’s message with his poetry, writings and speeches across the country, Adityanath said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the message of a united India by abrogating Article 370 within a year of Vajpayee’s death, he added.
The state government had launched several projects as a mark of respect to Vajpayee, Adityanath said.
He added a 25-feet statue of Vajpayee will be installed at Lok Bhawan and a medical university will be established in Lucknow in the name of the former PM. A satellite centre of the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) will come up in Balrampur and it will be upgraded to a medical college later. A centre of excellence will be set up in Vajpayee’s name at DAV College, Kanpur . Bateshwar, his ancestral village, will have a memorial.
The state government has already named the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow after the former PM and residential schools for children of labourers will be established in 18 divisions of the state, Adityanath said.
The chief minister described Vajpayee’s political life as an inspiration for the people.
Uttar Pradesh was Vajpayee’s karmabhoomi and people assembled to hear his speeches as he worked relentlessly for the country’s development, he said.
The golden quadrilateral project, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Delhi Metro project were launched during his regime, the chief minister said. Prime Minister Modi pushed forward the programmes launched by the Vajpayee government, including housing and toilets for the poor, Adityanath said.
Vidhan Sabha speaker Hriday Narain Dikshit said Vajpayee was optimistic that BJP would form a majority government at the centre (it happened in 2014 for the first time and the party won an even bigger majority in 2019).
He was a sensitive and witty person, Dikshit said, adding the people still remembered his contribution as foreign minister and leader of the opposition, besides as PM.
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said Vajpayee’s ideals were the guiding force for the BJP and remained connected with the common party workers even after becoming PM.
Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said Vajpayee laid the foundation for the formation of a majority government in the Lok Sabha.
Vajpayee accompanied Syama Prasad Mookerjee during his visit to Kashmir, Sharma said. After Mookerjee’s arrest, he spread his message across the country, he added.
BJP state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were working to realise Vajpayee’s dreams for the nation.
