With the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh slated for next year, state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered officials to take care of the beautification and maintenance parks and memorials dedicated to the memory of leaders, particularly Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
The move is said to be focused on wooing Dalits in the state.
In the first phase, parks and memorials dedicated to Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Maharaja Suheldev, Uda Devi, Avanti Bai, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Maharana Pratap and Ram Prasad Bismil will be spruced up.
"The Chief Minister said at a meeting that proper cleanliness in all the parks and memorials should be taken up on priority basis and repairs, if needed, should also be carried out. More amenities will be made available in these places too," a government spokesman was quoted by news agency IANS as saying.
Adityanath also asked officials to develop a mechanism that would ensure the proper upkeep of parks and memorials on a permanent basis.
It is noteworthy that on several occasions, BSP president Mayawati, also the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, has lamented the fact that the memorials constructed in her regime in memory of Ambedkar, were not being properly maintained.
Yogi Adityanath`s diktat on maintenance of parks and memorials-majority of whom are dedicated to Ambedkar, is now being seen as an attempt by the ruling BJP to appease Dalits and win them over for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, slated to be held in 2022.
(With IANS inputs)
