In a veiled attack on the Gandhi family for having named major national assets after names of their family members, Union Urban Development minister Venkaiah Naidu today said that despite the contribution of many others to the struggle for India’s freedom, most of the public buildings and institutions were named after one family after Independence.
“There is no denying that Pandit Nehru was a great freedom fighter, but Sardar Patel was also a great freedom fighter and so was Ashfaqullah Khan. But we don't see many public buildings and institutions named after them,” Naidu said.
Naidu's remarks came on the occasion of renaming Paryawaran Bhawan as Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan, after Jan Sangh ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.
Naidu, along with MoS for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, unveiled the plaque bearing the new name of the building that houses the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disability, among other government offices.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests was a major occupant of the building, but it moved to a new building in June 2014.
Naidu said that the decision of naming the building after Deen Dayal Upadhyay was very apt as it highlights the "antyodaya" philosophy of Pandit Deendayal who advocated the uplift of the poorest and the most under-privileged.
"Antyodaya means the welfare of the last man in the queue, the weakest. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay advocated the philosophy of 'integral humanism' which developed body, mind and soul and reconciled socialism and capitalism," Naidu said.
"This being Deendayal ji's birth centenary year, it is only appropriate that an important building in the national Capital is named after him," he added.
With IANS Inputs
