Lucknow: Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav has targeted the Yogi Adityanath government for renaming the Ekana stadium in Lucknow after Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said the BJP should construct a separate stadium at the former PM’s paternal village of Bateshwar near Agra than resorting to mere renaming exercises.
“I am very happy that the stadium has been renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. At least the BJP did something, doesn’t matter if they did not construct it themselves. However, I would also suggest the BJP to get an even better stadium constructed in his paternal village,” he said while offering prayers in Agra’s Bateshwar Mahadev Temple on Tuesday.
On Monday, a day before the second T20 cricket match between India and West Indies, the Yogi Adityanath government had renamed the Ekana International Stadium to Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Sports Stadium.
Akhilesh further alleged that the party of creating a divide in the society, and said the BJP is not even “loyal to the Gods”, since the word ‘Ekana’ means Lord Vishnu.
The Samajwadi chief went on to underline the ruling government’s inefficiency in facilitating development in the region. “If the BJP respect Atal ji genuinely, they should consider launching developmental schemes in Bateshwar,” he said, adding, how river Yamuna in this region is dirty, with nothing being done to improve the situation.
Comparing Yogi’s tenure with his time as the CM of UP, Akhilesh said that several projects were launched for the development of Bateshwar under the Samajwadi Party’s regime.“If the party comes to power again it will continue the development work of Bateshwar at any cost,” he added.