A political slugfest erupted in Bihar on Monday when the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the state government was renaming Patna’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee Park to Coconut Park.

The charge was promptly denied by the Bihar government and the department concerned, PTI reported.

The state Department for Environment and Forestry asserted in a statement that “reports in a section of the media about Atal Bihari Vajpayee Park being renamed as Coconut Park were not true”.

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Tej Pratap Yadav posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), “The name of Coconut Park has not been changed. According to the department’s records, that has always been its name. The name change is done by the municipal corporation. So, don’t spread false information.”

It was also clarified that there was a park named after the late leader elsewhere in the city and the one in question bore the name ‘Coconut Park’ ever since it was handed over to the Department of Environment and Forestry “by the Road Construction department, along with all other parks in Patna, in November, 2022”.

The department also hinted that the confusion may have arisen because of a signboard put up on the gate of the park “without the government’s approval” by a “private organization” named after Vajpayee based in the Kankarbagh locality of the city.

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BJP leaders like Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai came out with strong reactions following reports that Tej Pratap Yadav, the Minister for Environment and Forestry, would be “renaming” the park at a function that was scheduled on Monday.

The department, however, clarified that the function was marked to throw open the “renovated” park and it has been “put off because of unavoidable reasons” and “the minister has sought full details, from Patna Nagar Nigam, about the name of the park”.

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Tej Pratap replied to queries from journalists with the curt remark “there was no question of renaming. It was already known as Coconut Park. The BJP is spreading rumours”.

The Environment department, however, sought to highlight the fact that the city’s posh Pataliputra Colony had a park named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee in which ‘a life-sized statue’ of the late leader was installed, in contrast with the ‘small, low quality’ one put up by the private organization concerned inside the ‘Coconut Park’.

The department also underscored that the park named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee was being “duly maintained” and it has been the site of “annual government functions” organized on the occasion of the late leader’s birth and death anniversaries.