Paying rich tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth anniversary on Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “Atal ji rose above party lines and was respected by all. His journey of six decades in public life has been without any stain. Politics without principles can have no place in social life. He never compromised with the values and ideals.”

He went on to say that as a leader, the former prime minister was a symbol of how India’s politics became stable, accountable and transparent by recovering from the era of instability. Be it standards or an action plan to develop India’s infrastructure, he had brought a massive change in the lives of over crores of people during his tenure.

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The event was also marked by the singing of his poems and screening of a short film based on his life and philosophy at Lok Bhavan. A short film was also shown on the Yogi government’s ambitious Atal Residential School Scheme.

The CM said that Atal ji’s birth anniversary is celebrated as ‘Good Governance Day’. Remembering their services to the country, the CM also paid tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and great educationist and social worker Mahamana Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya.

He said keeping in mind the values and the ideals in politics, Atal ji had undertaken the task of converting the politics of instability into stability by giving priority to mutual coordination and communication. Today the same stability is making India emerge as a big power of the world under the leadership of PM Modi. In the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence, India’s economy has grown from that of Britain, which ruled us for 200 years.

 It is a matter of pride that PM Modi is leading 20 developed countries till next year. The tireless hard work done under the leadership of PM Modi in 8 years and the foundation stone laid by Atal ji between 1998 and 2004 is making India scale new heights in the current time.

Stating that the double-engine government has adopted the sensitive approach towards the public deriving inspiration from Atal Ji, Yogi said, “for the first time during Covid-19, 135 crore people got the facility of free tests, treatment and two vaccines each within 9 months of illness. Similarly, for the first time during the pandemic, more than 80 crore people received free ration.”

The CM said that Atal ji gave priority to human values. He was accepted as a universal leader in the country and the world. When there was a crisis in front of India on the global stage, even the then governments used to send him to lead the country. At the time of crisis in the country, he used to stand with the government, ending the division between the opposition and the ruling party. He always said that there can be political rivalry, but the interest of the country is more important than the interest of the party.

In 1971, Atal ji as the leader of the opposition party had supported the policies of the Congress in the interest of the country, however, he also did not hesitate to merge the Bharatiya Jana Sangh with the Janata Party in 1977 for the welfare of the people. This is the reason why people of every party remember Atal ji with reverence and respect, he added.

The CM said that public representatives must ensure  that every section of society gets the benefit of our schemes without any discrimination. The action plan of the government is for every poor, farmer, youth, women and downtrodden.

The CM said that with the inspiration of PM Modi, the state government worked to keep the values and legacy of Atal Ji alive. The youth of UP should get good medical education, so the Atal Vihari Vajpayee Medical University is being constructed.

In the first phase, construction of Atal residential houses is going on in 18 commissionerates for the downtrodden-deprived and destitute boys and girls. In the new session, all the arrangements are going to be made here for the labourers for state-of-the-art education. The government has taken steps to build schools according to Atal ji’s personality and to pave the way for the all-round development of children.

The CM said that the government worked for the all-round development of Atal ji’s ancestral land Bateshwar.

CM also paid homage to Mahamana Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya ji. He said that his contribution to social and national life was immense.

At the end of the programme, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Cabinet Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia, along with many public representatives, officials, children and dignitaries also listened to the Prime Minister’s ‘Mann ki Baat’.