Uttar Pradesh government is likely to rename the Yamuna Express Highway after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Most probably, the announcement about renaming would be made by PM Narendra Modi on November 25, at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Noida International Airport in Jewar in the Gautam Budha Nagar.
Expectedly, the announcement would be made in the presence of senior BJP leaders, including PM Modi, UP CM Yogi Adityanath.
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A senior BJP leader was quoted saying, “The decision (to rename the expressway) has been taken to give a token of respect to the most loved politicians in India. AB Vajpayee is respected by all, across party lines, and the renaming of the expressway will remind future generations about his greatness.”
After PM Modi would lay the foundation stone, Uttar Pradesh would become the only Indian state to have five international airports.
Since 2017, when the current BJP government came to power, it has changed the names of many railway stations and towns. Earlier, in November 2018, nearly three months after Vajpayee's demise, the Yogi government renamed the Ekana International Cricket Stadium as ‘Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Cricket Stadium.’ The ruling government also renamed Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad as Ayodhya. In its most recent move, on October 23, it rechristened the Faizabad Railway Junction as Ayodhya Cantt.
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The Yamuna Express is a six-lane highway, inaugurated on August 9, 2021 by Samajwadi Party chief and then CM Akhilesh Yadav. The highway is a bridge between Agra and Greater Noida, that’s why it is also known as “Taj Express Highway”.