Lucknow Residents Steal Flower Pots Used To Decorate Roads For PM Modi's Event Video Goes Viral

(MENAFN- Live Mint) On the evening of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on December 25, several residents were caught stealing flower pots used to decorate the city roads for the inauguration of Rashtra Prerna Sthal honouring Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 101st birth anniversary.

In a video now going viral on social media, Lucknow residents were captured openly stealing marigold-filled flower pots from the roadside. However, the more surprising fact was that these weren't poor and homeless people, but rather seemed to belong to good families, and used scooters to loot the plants.

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Notably, such post-event thefts are not uncommon; municipal bodies often remove decorations as soon as the event wraps up to curb losses estimated at thousands of rupees per incident, as reported in similar cases from Delhi and Mumbai.

Here's how netizens reacted:

Social media users pointed out that most people captured taking the pots from the roadside were“economically stable individuals” who lacked civic sense.

“Nothing new, we have seen this before also. Proud to be in India 😂 Can you do it somewhere else?” a user quipped.

One netizen pointed out,“Economically stable individuals often exhibit surprising greed for free items. They seem to lack a sense of civic responsibility, as demonstrated by their behaviour. This can be seen in their tendency to throw garbage on the roadside, steal flower pots, park their cars in no-parking zones, and spit in areas where signs clearly indicate 'Don't spit.' Numerous examples of such behaviours exist. They expect their own rooms and houses to be cleaned while leaving the rest to the government.”

“I do not support any arrangements made by civic bodies before visits from politicians. Adorning the streets with temporary setups is simply a waste of money. However, it is a fact that when a major politician arrives, the roads get repaired, parks are rejuvenated, and walls are painted. We should make an effort to keep our things clean for a long time because they won't get rejuvenated until another big shot plans his visit,” he added.

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A user joked that the incident was“just peak Nawabi civic sense”.“VIPs gone, flower pots vanish into middle-class SUVs. Not poverty, just peak 'Nawabi civic sense'-municipalities learned the hard way why they strip decor faster than a bad Tinder date.”

“They took the phrase 'Phoolon jaisa swagat' a bit too seriously. They didn't just accept the welcome. They took the whole inventory home!😭” another added.

A user suggested a social credit system to curb such incidents.“India needs the Chinese social credit system to become a developed country. Civic sense must be taught from pre-K through universities.”

Some netizens also defended the act as“tax-payers right,” while others tried looking at it through a positive lens.“Though it looks bad, but there is a good side to it. In this way that small tree will be alive for some more years,” a user said.

“Of course, as they were sponsored by the Tax payers so they can take them home once the event is done,” added another user.

Also Read | Rashtra Prerna Sthal: All about the ₹230-crore memorial in Lucknow What's inside the Rashtra Prerna Sthal complex?

Spread over 65 acres on Hardoi Road on the outskirts of Lucknow, the Rashtra Prerna Sthal complex features 65-feet-high bronze statues of BJP icons – Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Each statue weighs 42 tonnes and has a water body surrounding its platform. The complex was reportedly constructed at an approximate cost of ₹230 crore.

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