Chai pe charcha, poetry, food distribution mark Atal anniversary
LUCKNOW: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 96th birth anniversary was celebrated as Sushasan Diwas or Good Governance Day across the state on Friday.
The events included a novel ‘chai pe charcha’ (discussion over tea) held at a city park where Vajpayee had delivered a public speech on December 5, 1992, poetic meet, prayers, food and clothes distribution.
While holding the virtual Kisan Samvad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Vajpayee and said , ““Atalji always gave preference to villages, the poor, and farmers. The PM Gram Sadak Yojna, Swarnim Chaturbhuj Yojna (Golden Quadrilateral project) and several other such programmes were launched by him. The farm reforms that the present government realised were conceptualised by him. Atal ji used to call corruption a bane. And today every rupee that is released from Delhi goes straight into the accounts of the beneficiaries and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi is an example of this. This is good governance,” Modi said.
Participating in the Kisan Samman Divas event from Mohanlalganj, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said.
“It was he who began the programme of strengthening rural economy through initiatives like Pradhan Mantri gram sadak yojna that helped farmers take their produce to mandis easily. International level highways, mobile phones in the hands of every Indian were because of him. And now the PM Modi is taking forward the works that Atal ji had initiated.”
POETIC TRIBUTE
Vajpayee was also a poet at heart. Thus, the newly set up Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Foundation, headed by state’s law minister Brijesh Pathak, organised a poetry evening featuring well-known poet Kumar Vishwas, amid many others, at the Scientific Convention Centre. The event was attended by chief minister Yogi Adityanath who recalled Vajpayee’s life and times.
CHAI PE CHARCHA
A novel chai pe charcha was organised by BJP leader Amit Puri outside the Jhande Wala Park at Aminabad on Friday. Puri said the venue and the topic showcased how the BJP cherished Vajpayee’s memories.
“The venue was the one where Atal ji addressed a public meeting on December 5, 1992. The ‘Chai pe Charcha’ was the brainchild of BJP during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s time. And between them, the two leaders have continued to make propoor, pro-farmer policies,” Puri said.
HE BELIEVED IN INCLUSIVENESS: GUV
The Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University organised its first lecture series on the former PM’s birth anniversary. Governor Anandiben Patel addressed the event online. “Atalji believed that life should be looked at in entirety and all-inclusive, instead of various fragments.
Sushasan (good governance) would come when we would think in all-inclusive manner,” she said.
SOIL HEALTH CARDS FOR FARMERS IN KASHI
Urban development minister Ashutosh Tandon ‘Gopal’ distributed soil health cards to farmers on the occasion in Varanasi on Friday. At an event held at Jagatpur Inter College, the minister, whose father late Lalji Tandon was very close to Vajpayee, recalled various initiatives of the late PM while defending farm laws passed by the Modi government.
BLOOD DONATION CAMP IN KANPUR
A blood donation camp was organised in Kanpur on Vajpayee’s anniversary. Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya announced that the Kanpur Circuit House had been named after Vajpayee and a statue of the former PM would be installed there.
PM also interacted with the farmers of UP.