Ex- PM immortalised as City of Nawabs turns into City of Atal

300- bed hospital, garden, housing colonies, community centres to bear leader’s name

From being a City of Nawabs, Lucknow is now on its way to becoming the City of Atal.

The executive committee of the Lucknow Nagar Nigam has passed a resolution to build a 300- bed hospital named after the former Prime Minister.

A six- hectare ‘ Atal Smriti Upvan’ will be developed near the Lucknow airport and a museum dedicated to the memory of Vajpayee will be built in it.

The museum will house memorabilia related to Vajpayee, including his poems and speeches made in Lucknow. His 51 poems will be engraved on stone plaques.

Lucknow mayor Sanyukta Bhatia said that the Nagar Nigam also plans to develop two housing colonies in Para locality named after Vajpayee. All the Kalyan Mandaps in the city that are actually community centres will be named after Mr Vajpayee. “In fact, Kalyan Mandaps will now be known as Atal Mandaps.

The main Hazratganj crossing in Lucknow will be now known as Atal Chauraha while the 11- kilometre road from Avadh crossing to Dubagga will also be named after Vajpayee. The degree college run by Nagar Nigam in Ismailganj will also bear Vajpayee’s name.

BJP MP and Union home minister Rajnath Singh is taking a keen personal interest in finalizing projects named after the former Prime Minister. Vajpayee was MP from Lucknow for five consecutive terms and Mr Singh now represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha.

BJP MLA Avinash Trivedi, on Friday, had moved a resolution in the state Assembly to name the Lucknow University as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Vishwavidyalaya. He has also proposed the renaming of the Parivartan Chowk as Atal Chowk.

Incidentally, the Parivartan Chowk was named so by former chief minister Mayawati as a symbol of social change and changing the name is expected to face opposition from the BSP. “There are many other places that can be named after Vajpayee. There is no reason to change the name of a place that denotes social justice,” said a BSP MLA.

However, the resolution could not be taken up in the state Assembly on Friday because the MLA who had moved it was absent.