Agartala: Tripura BJP on Saturday celebrated Balidan Divas, the death anniversary of Syamaprasad Mookerjee, and said the 'patriotic' state government wanted to "remember Mookerjee who sacrificed his life for the country".
A road of nearly 500 metres was also named after Mookerjee. However, the state government got his name wrong yet again.
In March this year, the road to the chief minister's official residence, the erstwhile Marx-Engels Sarani, was renamed Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Lane. When it was pointed out that the name of the late statesman had been wrongly spelt on the plaque, the government had said this would be looked into.
Mookerjee's death anniversary was observed at the BJP state headquarters here on Saturday morning.
Chief minister and BJP state president Biplab Kumar Deb said, "Syamaprasad Mookerjee sacrificed his own life, despite being an Union minister in the Jawaharlal Nehru cabinet. If he didn't sacrifice himself, perhaps Kashmir would not have been with us (India) anymore. People should know more about him".
Referring to his BJP-IPFT coalition government, Deb said, "A government of patriots is running the state now".
In an oblique reference to the CPM, he said people were taught to fight for narrow ends and oppose the central government for the last 25-30 years.
BJP state in-charge Sunil Deodhar said Syamaprasad Mookerjee embodied sacrifice. He alleged that "former chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah got Mookerjee killed" and said his sacrifice is being remembered by nationalists.
In the evening, Deb inaugurated a stretch from Agartala city centre to the chief minister's residence as Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road. The plaque bearing the name was written in Bengali, Kokborok, English and Hindi.
After inaugurating the road (which had no specific name earlier), Deb said the naming was done to "inspire people about the proud history of Mookerjee".
"Most roads in this county are named after Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. There are many roads and grounds named after Swami Vivekananda. This is because society has a relation with ideals set by these great men. We have named this road after Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee. People from all corners of the state and elsewhere in the country will visit here and the road's name will arouse their curiosity," Deb said.
