In an effort to match Ambedkar park built by Mayawati ,SP to build Janeshwar Mishra park

LUCKNOW: If Mayawati had Ambedkar and other parks, the ruling Samajwadi Party has tried to match them with a single huge park, named after its veteran leader Janeshwar Mishra, in the state capital. Although the budget allocated for the park is substantially less, comparisons seem inevitable. SP plans to hold its three-day national meet from October 8 to 10 in the park.

About 10,000 delegates and the entire brass of the party is expected to attend the meeting. Ahead of the event, the city is being decked up with festoons, billboards and banners hailing the top leadership. The event has brought back memories of the extravagant show that Bahujan Samaj Party used to put up, when it was in government, to celebrate birth anniversaries of its icons and birthday of its chief Mayawati.

The Janeshwar Mishra Park, where the three-day national executive of SP is being held, too has drawn comparisons with the BR Ambedkar Park, which was Mayawati’s pet project. Though the Janeshwar Mishra Park named after the veteran socialist and founder member of Samajwadi Party, is not a massive concrete and stone structure like the Ambedkar Park, nor does it command a huge budget similar to the one Mayawati sanctioned for her pet project.

But it is already being talked about for its unique features. The Janeshwar Mishra Park has a budget of Rs 350 crore. Inspired by the Hyde Park in London, it is spread over 376 acres and billed as the largest park in India.

Though work on the park is still underway, a small part of it was inaugurated by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on August 5, to mark Janeshwar Mishra’s birth anniversary.

The Dr Ambedkar Park and other memorials built by Mayawati between 2007-12 had attracted a lot of criticism for incurring expenditure running into several thousand crores. Officials of the Lucknow Development Authority have been camping at the park site for the last few days to ensure that it is functional to host the SP convention, nearly a week from now.