Centre planning to preserve memorials of Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Yogesh Mishra

Lucknow: Just like the bungalows of former Prime Ministers Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, the official residence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 6A, Krishna Menon Marg will also be transformed into a museum.

The Centre will keep his books, letters and other belongings at the museum for the people to see them.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government has already started extensive discussion over preserving the memorials of the former Prime Minister of the country.

The government is planning to rename Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh after Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The government is also giving a final shape to the ideas of conserving the memorials of the Late BJP leader in various Uttar Pradesh districts like Mathura, Balrampur, Lucknow and Kanpur.

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The Centre will also name a few organisations and roads after the visionary leader, who was the first non-Congress politician to serve a complete term in Prime Minister’s office.

Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan will also announce a cash prize between Rs 1 lakh to 99 lakh in his name. This prize is expected to be given for exceptional contribution to Hindi language. The Centre has also planned to start some national-level awards under his name.

The DAV College in Kanpur, where Atal Ji completed his education, is soon going to be revamped.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who breathed his last at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Thursday last, had shifted to 6A, Krishna Menon Marg after completing his prime ministerial tenure and taking retirement from politics. He lived there for about 10 years. Before shifting to his last residence, he used to reside at 6 Raisina Marg, where another BJP veteran, Murli Manohar Joshi, is currently living.

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Atal Ji had a strong connect with Mathura, Lucknow, Kanpur and Balrampur districts, all in Uttar Pradesh. He served as an MP once from Balrampur and five times from Lucknow. He had first reached to the Parliament by winning the Balrampur Lok Sabha constituency in 1957. Then he contested from Mathura but could not win. From 1991 to 2009, Atal ji served five consecutive terms as an MP from Lucknow constituency.

The government is also planning to redevelop Atal Ji’s ancestral village Bateshwar, in Agra, with MP fund. The Centre has already announced to inaugurate a medical university under his name and rename ‘Shaheed Path' after him.