Uttar Pradesh celebrated its first birthday at the age of 68 on Wednesday as Vice President M. Venkaiah Nadu inaugurated the first ‘UP Diwas’ to begin the two-day celebrations here.
Naidu lit the ceremonial lamp in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Tableaux of five regions — Avadh, Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Braj and western UP were also on display.
The Vice President also felicitated Sub-Inspector of Uttar Pradesh Police Kuldeep Singh who wrote the lyrics of the UP Diwas theme song. Singh is posted at Raj Bhavan and the song was sung by Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam.
Addressing the gathering, the Rajya Sabha Chairman said that progress of the country was not possible without the development and progress of Uttar Pradesh.
He also questioned the arms proliferation among the people of the state and blamed it for the rise in crime. There was a need to confiscate these arms, he suggested.
Adityanath said the day was momentous as Uttar Pradesh was celebrating its Foundation Day for the first time in the 68 years of its existence. He also thanked Naik for suggesting the celebration of the Foundation Day on January 24.
The dignitaries also kicked off projects worth Rs 25,000 crore.
Naik said that he was immensely satisfied at the start of the UP Diwas and termed the event as one of the five important life events for him.
The other four being singing of the national song and national anthem in Parliament, changing of Bombay’s name to Mumbai, start of the MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) fund and writing the correct spelling of Baba Saheb Aambedkar’s name.
Before Independence Uttar Pradesh was called United Province and it was on January 24, 1950 that it got its present name.
Uttar Pradesh now joins other states like Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Goa and Telangana who also celebrate their Foundation Day.