Himalayan peak to be named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Dehradun: An unexplored Himalayan peak in Uttarakhand will be named after former prime minister and BJP founder Atal Bihari Vajpayee, State Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj said on Friday.

Maharaj said that a team of mountaineers from Uttarkashi's Nehru Institute of Mountaineering will embark on an expedition to find that peak very soon.

"We plan to name an unknown peak in the Himalayas after former prime minister Vajpayee. A team of mountaineers will soon start on an expedition in search of it," he said.

The idea to christen a peak after Vajpayee was conceived in view of the former prime minister's love of nature and the mountains, he said. 

After Vajpayee's death, several state governments, municipal corporations and leaders - with the Centre's nod - decided to rechristen names of several sites in their areas of power to pay a tribute to the late politician.

The Jharkhand government announced to rename seven places after AB Vajpayee.

Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in November 2000 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister. 

In honour of the BJP leader, the Jharkhand government has decided to rename several institutes and sites in the state.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh too announced that the upcoming capital of Chhattisgarh, Naya Raipur, will be known as Atal Nagar as a mark of respect to Vajpayee.

Ambala city's MLA Aseem Goel also announced that the planetarium, which is to be constructed at Bal Bhawan in the city, will be named after late prime minister Atal Bihari.

In Gujarat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that archetype Sabarmati Ghat will be named after Atal ji and will be hence named as 'Atal Ghat'.