PM Narendra Modi Unveils Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Statue In Lucknow On His 95th Birth Anniversary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled statue of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lucknow on his 95th birth anniversary on Wednesday. Vajpayee represented Lucknow in the Lok Sabha five times -- 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. Modi will also lay the foundation stone of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University for which the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to transfer 50 acres of land.

Earlier in Delhi, Modi launched the Atal Bhujal Scheme for better management of groundwater, stressing on the need to use technology which helps prevent wastage of water in various spheres, including agriculture. He also named Rohtang passageway in Himachal Pradesh as Atal Tunnel to mark the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Modi and several union ministers also paid tributes to Vajpayee at Sadaiv Atal--the memorial to Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  BJP veteran LK Advani, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and members of Vajpayee's family were amongst those who paid tributes to the BJP leader amid the playing of hymns and devotional music.

The memorial was dedicated to the nation in December last year. Vajpayee was born in 1924 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. He died on August 16, 2018 at AIIMS in Delhi.

"Tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee , who is etched in the hearts of the countrymen, on his birth anniversary," Modi wrote on Twitter.

He also posted a brief video on Vajpayee, recalling his contributions to the country.