PATNA: Union home minister Amit Shah announced on Saturday that a memorial for Veer Kunwar Singh will be built at his birth place Jadgishpur in Bihar's Bhojpur district as a mark of respect to the hero of the 1857 revolt against British rule. He said the Union government would bear the cost of construction of the memorial.
Speaking at the Veer Kunwar Singh 'vijayotsava' at Jagdishpur, Shah said that the memorial would revive the contributions of Babu Veer Kunwar Singh to the country's first battle for freedom. At the same time, he took a dig at the historians of yesteryear who did not do justice with him by describing the 1857 revolt against the British rule as a sepoy mutiny.
He said the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would leave no stone unturned to revive the contributions of such heroes of India's freedom struggle.
Taking a swipe at the RJD rule in Bihar, the Union minister said that the people of the state would never forget the 'jungle raj'. The state during Lalu-Rabri regime lacked proper roads and electricity. The law and order situation was at its lowest ebb. People were killed frequently, creating a sense of fear among them, he alleged.
Shah also highlighted the achievements of the NDA government in Bihar. “The credit goes to the NDA government under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, which brought Bihar from the category of 'bimaroo' (underdeveloped) state to a developing one,” he added.
He exuded confidence that the development of the state would continue. He also talked about the special package given to Bihar from the Centre for carrying out development works. “The work on 125 lakh crore for the state's development has already started,” he said.
He recalled the welfare schemes launched for the poor by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
Earlier, he arrived at Patna airport from New Delhi and held a meeting with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the airport lounge. The meeting, which continued for half an hour, was also attended by the BJP state president Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal.