Yogi swearing-in venue: BJP’s pride, but conceptualised by BSP and shaped by SP

The project was conceptualised by the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) towards the end of its tenure in 2012. The stadium’s foundation stone was laid by Akhilesh Yadav during his time as chief minister and most of the work on the sporting arena was done in the five years of the Samajwadi Party (SP) government he led. At the time, it was known as the “Ekana International Cricket Stadium”.

However, the BJP gave the stadium, which the government claims is the third-largest stadium in India, its final shape after coming to power in 2017. The following year, on November 6, Chief Minister Adityanath inaugurated it and the ruling party renamed it in honour of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The stadium, where several international matches have been held, has a capacity to seat about 50,000 people. But for the inauguration seating arrangements were made on the ground too, expanding the stadium’s seating capacity to 75,000. For the event, the BJP painted its lotus symbol at the centre of the stadium and another image of a lotus was placed in front of the dais.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday took a dig at the BJP saying its ministers took oath at a stadium built when his own government was in power. “Congratulations to the new government that they are taking oath in the stadium built by the Samajwadi Party. The oath should not be merely to form the government, but also to serve the people in a true sense,” Yadav, who is also the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, said in a Hindi tweet, minutes after the oath-taking ceremony concluded.