Patna: A controversy has erupted in Bihar after the Nitish Kumar-led government renamed a park in Patna, which was named after former prime minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee. The state government has renamed the park in Kankarbagh the ‘Coconut Park’, drawing the ire of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nityanand Rai questioned the decision of the Nitish-led government and said, “The park developed by the Bihar government in Kankarbagh in the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and has his idol is being renamed as Coconut Park.”
“It is offensive to rename the park which was named after Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is almost equivalent to a crime. The nation and public will question Tejashwi Yadav,” Rai said.
The state government, however, hit back at the BJP with environment minister Tej Pratap Yadav accusing the saffron party of spreading rumours.
“It is named Coconut Park in official papers… Rumour is being spread that the park has been renamed… BJP people must have put up the board (of Atal Park),” Yadav said.
The inauguration of the park by Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav was scheduled for Monday. However, after finding itself caught in a controversy, the state government postponed the park inauguration and initiated an inquiry into whether the park actually was named after former prime minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee.
“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/when was the park notified as `Atal Park`,” said Bandana Preyashi, Secretary of the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bihar.
