PM Modi Inaugurates Rashtra Prerna Sthal in Lucknow on Atal Bihari Vajpayee Centenary; National Memorial Built on Reclaimed 30-Acre Garbage Site

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25, 2025 inaugurated the Rashtra Prerna Sthal in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, to mark the 101st birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The memorial has been developed as a landmark national complex spread across approximately 65 acres, constructed at a cost of around ₹230 crore, and dedicated to three seminal leaders of independent India — Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The site features towering bronze statues of the trinity and a lotus-shaped, technology-driven museum of approximately 98,000 square feet that narrates India's national journey and the contributions of these leaders through advanced digital and immersive exhibits. The Prime Minister arrived at around 2:30 PM and addressed a public gathering following the inauguration. He underlined that the Sthal symbolises a vision that showed India the path of self-respect, unity and service, and contrasted the transformation of the site with its past — for decades the land had accumulated a mountain of garbage spread over more than 30 acres, which was cleared over the last three years to make way for the national memorial. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Deputy Chief Ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya, and other dignitaries. The inauguration forms part of the wider Birth Centenary of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee observances coordinated by the Ministry of Culture across the country.