NEW DELHI: New Delhi architect Edwin Lutyens’ legacy in independent India has come to symbolize a rarefied environment inhabited by those with an enviable combination of power, lineage and influence.
For critics, governments came and went but Lutyens’ privileged elite was permanent.Since taking office in 2014, Prime Minister Modi, who has not been shy about his disdain for what he has sometimes described as the “Lytyens Gang” or “Lytyens Gang,” has been tearing up its tracks, highlighted by the renaming of roads and powerful addresses, the placement of a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on a pedestal dedicated to the British Emperor, and the importance given to Indians and other Indians. languages and bring names rooted in Indian culture and heritage rather than British era surnames.
Now, Lutyens’s own statue is set to be removed from its landmark building – Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Modi announced in his monthly program Mann Ki Baat that a statue of Rajagopalachari, the freedom fighter who became India’s first and only governor-general after independence before the post was abolished in the new republic in 1950, would replace the statue of Lutyens at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Monday.“His (Rajagopalachari) behaviour, restraint and independent thinking in public life inspire us even today.
Unfortunately, even after independence, statues of British officials were allowed to remain in Rashtrapati Bhavan, but statues of the country’s greatest sons were denied space.” He said. PM Modi praises Jayalalithaa The Prime Minister said this is a continuation of his endeavor to rid the country of its slave mentality – a call he made from the Red Fort – and prioritize India’s heritage and traditions. The ‘Rajaji Utsav’ will be celebrated at Rashtrapati Bhavan and the statue will be inaugurated in the central courtyard, he said, praising Rajagopalachari – a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and former chief minister of Madras state – as someone who sees power not as a position but as a service.Speaking about Lutyens, architect and town planner A K Jain said that it was only after the announcement in 1911 that the capital would be changed to Delhi, that the idea of a planned ‘New Delhi’ in a randomly growing city came about.In her book Connaught Place and the Making of New Delhi, historian Swapna Liddle writes that Lutyens was dismissive of Indian architectural styles. Jain, who also authored Lutyens’ Delhi, insisted that credit for the city could not go to one person, and also pointed to the contribution of the Maharaja of Jaipur, who provided land and money, and Indian engineers.Jain said Mahatma Gandhi wanted to convert the erstwhile Viceroy’s Lodge, which is now Rashtrapati Bhavan, into a hospital or educational institution.In his remarks, Modi also paid tribute to another prominent political figure in election-bound Tamil Nadu – late AIADMK leader and CM J Jayalalithaa. He recalled her efforts for good governance and women empowerment and his personal equation with her since he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.
He said she had a special relationship with women.“This is also because she has made many commendable efforts in the government for the welfare of mothers, sisters and daughters. Concrete steps have also been taken to maintain law and order in the state. The spirit of patriotism was deeply rooted in her. She was also very proud of Indian cultural heritage,” When most regional satraps shunned the Hindutva plank, he said of Jayalalithaa, an early advocate of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.The Prime Minister recalled that she had attended two swearing-in ceremonies as chief minister of Gujarat, in 2002 and 2012, and invited him to Chennai for Pongal lunch. His praise of prominent Tamil politicians comes as the election campaign begins in the southern state.
