Bihar Chief Minister defers decision to rename Atal Park in Patna
Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, August 21
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday intervened to abort the decision of his cabinet colleague-Tejpratap Yadav, forest, environment and climate change Minister and prevented renaming of Atal Park as Coconut Park.
After receiving reports from Kankarbagh colony, where a park named after the former Prime Minister is located, Nitish Kumar called the deputy Chief Minister, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, younger brother of Tejpratap and talked to the senior officers on renaming of the park. He instructed the park’s renaming would be suspended and it would be known as Atal Park. The Chief Minister’s in-laws’ house is located in the same colony.
Officials of the forest and environment department had put inauguration plates in B sector of Kankarbagh colony and the name of Tejpratap was inscribed on it. Invitation cards issued by the principal chief conservator of forests also mentioned that the minister would open the Coconut Park.
Union minister of state for Home Nityanand Rai protested against removing the name of the former prime minister from the park and warned RJD leaders would even change the name of the Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar.
Samrat Chaudhury, President of Bihar unit of BJP alleged that the self-proclaimed frequent declarations of Nitish Kumar that Atal ji loved him and he respected Vajpayee was a farce. While the Chief Minister respected the former Prime Minister, his minister has disrespect for him, Chaudhury said.
On the fifth death anniversary of Vajpayee, Nitish Kumar had gone to New Delhi to pay homage to the former Prime Minister at his Samadhi. Nitish was railway minister in the Vajpayee cabinet.
The Atal Park was inaugurated two months after the death of Vajpayee in October, 2018 by the former vice-chancellor of Patna University, S N P Sinha. Park was developed by a local NGO and a statue of the former PM was installed in the park.
Tejpratap alleged that “BJP people” had grabbed the park and named it as Atal Park which was unauthorised. It is Coconut Park, he claimed and admitted due to opposition from some quarters, he has deferred its inauguration today.
