Kalyan’s death anniversary to be observed as Hindu Gaurav Diwas

Lucknow, Aug 20 (IANS) The second death anniversary of former chief minister Kalyan Singh on August 21 will be observed as Hindu Gaurav Divas (Hindu Pride Day).

Sandeep Singh, basic education minister in the Yogi Adityanath government and Kalyan Singh’s grandson, said that Kalyan Singh was known across the state ‘because of his contribution to the country.’

Singh said there would be about 50,000 admirers of Kalyan at a function to be held at Numaish Ground in the city on August 21. Home minister Amit Shah, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak and state BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary were expected to be present there, Singh said.

“From now, we will celebrate Hindu Gaurav Diwas every year on August 21 in Kalyan's memory. We have also proposed to rename Ramghat Road in Aligarh as Ramghat-Kalyan Marg. A Rs 517-crore proposal has been sent to the government to develop it as a four-lane road," said Kalyan ‘s son and BJP MP Rajvir Singh.

Meanwhile, sources said that the Uttar Pradesh government wants school students to learn about the life of Kalyan Singh during whose tenure as chief minister the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992.

“Even a kid in Uttar Pradesh knows Kalyan Singh very well. Every member of every household in Uttar Pradesh is somehow associated with him. We have moved forward to introducing him in the textbook of the Uttar Pradesh Board. A final decision is expected to be taken by the government soon,” Singh said without explaining what the students would be taught about the former chief minister.

Kalyan was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from June 24, 1991 to December 6, 1992 when his government was suspended by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government at the Centre for not protecting the Babri Masjid even after submitting an affidavit in the Supreme Court that he was committed to saving it.

He again became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from September 21, 1997 to November 12, 1999. He also served as the governor of Rajasthan from 2014 to 2019.

Out of over 50 accused persons in the Babri Masjid demolition case, Kalyan was the last BJP leader to appear in the court in 2019. He was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh. He enjoyed immunity against trial as he was the governor of Rajasthan at that time.