Lucknow's famous Hazratganj Chauraha was renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's name on Friday and will now officially be known as Atal Chowk. The development came on Atal Bihari Vajpayee's first death anniversary.
Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia on Friday inaugurated the Atal Chowk. Lucknow Municipal Corporation had held an executive council meeting during which the decision was made. BJP councillors and those from Opposition parties had supported the move.
Sharing details of the decision, city Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia on Friday told ANI, "A number of councillors were demanding different roads and roundabouts be named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, we were looking for something grand enough to fit the stature of the former Prime Minister. Hence it has been decided that most prominent and biggest intersection of Lucknow, which is also referred as the heart of the city- 'Hazratganj Chaurha' will be named after Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee".
"We want to conserve the memories of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. As the mayor of the city, we have prepared a draft for developing a memorial for him named "Atal Smriti Upvan". In this memorial, we plan to place his statue along with his 51 poems, speeches and other memorabilia. We have already started a process for identifying land for this memorial," she added.
Several states had earlier announced to rename some places after Mr Vajpayee to honour the leader.
The Chhattisgarh Government, on August 21, had announced to rename Naya Raipur as Atal Nagar. The state also decided to rename a few other places and institutions after his name.
The 93-year-old leader died on August 16 last year, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi after a period of prolonged illness.
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