Now, toll plaza in Muz’nagar gets saffron coat
ME ER UT/ MU Z AF FAR NA GAR: After secretariat building, dividers and statues, a toll plaza on the newly constructed Muzaffarnagar-Saharanpur highway was given a saffron coat on Sunday.
National highway 59 connects Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur and passes through Deoband which is famous for Islamic seminary Darul Uloom.
The toll plaza in question has been constructed in Rohana village, 10 kms from Muzaffarnagar, which is yet to become operational. Manager of the toll plaza Jitendra Singh maintained that the saffron colour had nothing to do with politics. “The colour scheme was a part of the original design created by the architects. The plaza will soon be made operational after receiving requisite permission and notification from the officials of the National Highway Aauthority of India (NHAI),” Singh said. The alleged saffronisation, however, did not go down well with the opposition parties which termed it a political ploy.
Targeting BJP government, Samajwadi Party`s city president Wasi Ansari said the state government wanted to seek credit of all development works started during the Akhilesh Yadav regime. Social activist Asad Farooqui said: “The colour was not an issue but it should not be linked with passing a political message.” Rejecting the criticism, BJP`s city MLA Kapil Dev Agarwal said saffron colour was a symbol of valour and courage and it should not be linked with cheap politics. Saffron hue started making its presence felt in UP soon after Yogi Adityanath took over the reins of the state on March 19 last year year. In October last year, the CM’s secretariat (annexe) was painted saffron.
Later, the boundary wall of the office of UP Haj Committee was also painted saffron followed by Gomti Nagar and Kaiserbagh police stations in Lucknow. In Muzaffaranagar, the main gate of jaggery market and iron grills of railway station were painted saffron. Leaders of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) had also protested against covering the statue of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh with saffron cloth in Baraut town of Baghpat district a few months ago.