PATNA: The Bihar government on Monday put a plan to inaugurate and rename a park in state capital Patna after several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the state claimed that the park was already named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2018.
Bandana Preyashi, secretary of Bihar’s department of environment, forest and climate change, said the programme was postponed to confirm the facts about the park in view of the allegations. “For the time being, we have postponed the inauguration of the said park that was scheduled today. We have also asked the Patna Municipal Corporation to confirm if and when was the park notified as ‘Atal Park’,” she said.
Bihar environment minister Tej Pratap Yadav was to inaugurate the park that was listed in official records as “Coconut Park”. People familiar with the matter said it was one of the 75 parks to be taken over by the forest department following an agreement with the urban development department in 2019.
BJP state president Samrat Chaudhry mounted a sharp attack on chief minister Nitish Kumar, recalling how he had made a well-publicised visit to the former prime minister’s memorial in New Delhi. “The renaming shows the real face of chief minister Nitish Kumar and his respect for the late prime minister. A few days back he had gone to pay his homage and today he is getting renamed the park,” said.
Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said it was a crime. “It is offensive to rename the park which was named after Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is almost like a crime. The nation and public will question Tejashwi Yadav. Chief minister Nitish Kumar can still stop him and if he doesn’t stop him now, then Tejashwi Yadav will change his name as well,” said
People familiar with the matter said the criticism wasn’t fair because the park, according to the available information, may never have been officially named in memory of the former PM.
Tej Pratap Yadav, who is Tejashwi Yadav’s brother, rebutted the BJP criticism. “The park is named Coconut Park in official papers. Rumours are being spread that the park has been renamed. The BJP people must have put up the board (of Atal Park),” Tej Pratap said.
Mirtunjay Tiwary, spokesperson of the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal also hit out, saying it was the BJP’s culture to rename projects and buildings.
“We don’t believe in re-naming… It is the culture of BJP to change names,” Tiwari said, citing the central government’s recent decision to rename the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) in New Delhi.
According to the plaque on the pedestal of Vajpayee’s bust at the park, the park was named after Vajpayee at a function in December 2018 – it says the park will be called Atal Bihari Vajpayee-cum-Coconut Park. But the plaque only lists individuals or private organisations including the Situation and Development Foundation.
It is not clear under what circumstances a private organisation were allowed to instal a statute at a public park and rename it. It has not been possible to contact the organisation since the listed phone number was switched off.
