Lucknow city’s iconic Hazratganj Chauraha has been renamed as the ‘Atal Chowk’, in honour of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The decision was taken by the Yogi Adityanath government on Friday in memory of Vajpayee, who passed away last year on August 16 at the age of 93 after a prolonged illness. The Hazratganj Chauraha in Lucknow is located in the heart of the city near its major shopping area ‘Hazratganj’. A poster that has been installed at the chowk reads, “On the occasion of the first death anniversary of late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, Hazratganj Chauraha has been renamed as ‘Atal Chowk’ from August 16.”
Speaking on the decision, Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta Bhatiya told ANI, “A number of councillors were demanding different roads and roundabouts be named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, we were looking something grand enough to fit the stature of the former Prime Minister. It has been decided that most prominent and biggest intersection of Lucknow – Hazratganj Chaurha – will be named after Bharat Ratna Vajpayee.”
She further said, “As the Mayor of the city, we have prepared a draft for developing a memorial for him — 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.”
Several states had announced the renaming of some places in honour of the former Prime Minister last year. Naya Raipur in Chhattisgarh was renamed as Atal Nagar by the state government in August 2018. Many other BJP-ruled states have announced the decision to rename few other places and institutions after the Bharat Ratna awardee.
Several places and colleges were also renamed in Jharkhand after Vajpayee by the state government. The Sahibganj Harbour is now known as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Harbour Sahibganj. The Medical College Palamu and Professional College Jamshedpur has been renamed as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College, Palamu. The eight-lane road leading to the Kako Math in Dhanbad district from the Government of India building was named as Atal Marg.
