The Congress dedicated a park in Ranchi to senior citizens on Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary on Friday.

“It will now provide senior citizens with a safe space for spending quality time that they didn’t have in this area,” Congress state spokesperson Alok Kumar Dubey replied, asked about the park close to Jagannathpur police station.

“Ranchi also didn’t have any such thing in memory of Rajivji,” added Congress state president and finance minister Rameshwar Oraon who inaugurated the park, adding it was developed under a scheme of planning and development department of the state.

“Rajiv Gandhi had taken over as the Prime Minister at a critical time when he also had to tackle problems within the country, in Assam and Punjab but he handled those successfully,” the minister said while paying tribute to Rajiv Gandhi.

“It was during his tenure the country witnessed the benefits of the technology mission including spread of communication system as seen through PCOs (public call offices) in rural areas,” he added.

“The BJP government at the Centre was playing a dangerous game,” Oraon said, referring to the change it made in the name Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award recently.

(Major) Dhyanchand was a great player and they will surely appreciate naming good institutions after him, he explained, adding removing Rajiv’s name from an award would not erase the memory of the late Prime Minister.

“Badle ka bhavna se kam nehi karenge, badlao layenge (we will bring in real change, not encourage revenge),” Oraon further said to explain what would be their stand if the Congress came to power at the Centre. Among others, Congress ministers Alamgir Alam, Badal Patralekh and Banna Gupta also spoke during the programme, highlighting various achievements of the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1980s.

Two senior citizens — former minister Hemant Pratap Dehati and social worker Mukhtar Singh — were also felicitated on the occasion by the ministers before they dedicated to senior citizens the park named after Rajiv Gandhi.