Sonia takes a stroll in the tulip garden on Saturday. (Reuters)

Srinagar, March 29: Kashmir has built Asia’s biggest tulip garden but courted controversy by renaming it after Indira Gandhi.

“The garden was dedicated to Indira Gandhi -and the decision to name it after her was taken by the government,’’ said Ghulam Sarwar Naqash, director of the state’s floriculture department. “Earlier, it was named after Siraj-ud-din, its gardener during Dogra rule.”

Chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had last year converted Siraj Bagh into a tulip garden and expanded it to five hectares this year. Initially, the government retained its original name.

It was, however, hurriedly renamed the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden to please Sonia Gandhi, who inaugurated the garden today, officials said. “The decision was taken by the chief minister himself and the name-change was effected when the government decided to invite Sonia,’’ an official said.

“Ayan ra ki bayan (it’s too obvious to explain),’’ said the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Abdul Rahim Rather, quoting from a Persian couplet.

Sonia sounded nostalgic after visiting the garden. She spoke of her family’s attachment to the Kashmir Valley right from Jawaharlal Nehru’s days.

“I remember when Indiraji flew to Kashmir just days before her assassination only to see the Chinar leaves turn golden in autumn. Even Rajivji had the happiest memories of childhood (here), and later as a pilot he would take time off to spend a night here,’’ Sonia said. “My children and myself have nice memories of Kashmir.”

The garden, located on the foothills of the Zabarwan range, has 12 lakh tulip bulbs of 60 varieties, all imported from the Netherlands. But Kashmir, Sonia said, is the tulip’s original home. “The tulip garden will go a long way in helping the tourism sector which has suffered a setback during the last 20 years,’’ she said.