Rajaji statue to replace Lutyens' at Prez house that he designed

NEW DELHI: Architect of New Delhi Edwin Lutyens' legacy in independent India came to symbolise a rarefied milieu inhabited by those with an enviable mix of power, pedigree and influence. To the critics, govts came and went but the Lutyens' privileged elite was permanent.

Since coming to office in 2014, PM Modi, who has been unabashed in his disdain for what he has at times scorned as 'Lutyens' gang' or 'Lutyens' jamaat', has been chipping away at its vestiges, spotlighted by renaming of roads and powerful addresses and by putting Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's statue on the pedestal meant for the British emperor, and importance accorded to Hindi and other Indian languages and bringing in names rooted in Indian heritage and legacy in place of British-era monikers. Now, Lutyens' own statue is set to be removed from his signature construction - Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' broadcast, Modi announced that a statue of C Rajagopalachari, a freedom fighter who became the first and only Indian governor general after independence before the post was scrapped in the new republic in 1950, will replace that of Lutyens in Rashtrapati Bhawan on Monday.

"His (Rajagopalachari) conduct, self-restraint, and independent thinking in public life inspire us even today. Unfortunately, even after independence, statues of British administrators were allowed to remain in Rashtrapati Bhavan, but those of the nation's greatest sons were denied space," he said.

PM Modi heaps praise on Jayalalithaa
The PM said it is continuation of his push to rid the country of slave mentality - a call he had given from Red Fort - and accord primacy to India's own legacy and traditions. 'Rajaji Utsav' will be celebrated at Rashtrapati Bhavan and the statue will be inaugurated at its Central Courtyard, he said, lauding Rajagopalachari - the close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and former CM of the erstwhile Madras State - as someone who saw power not as a position but as a service.

Speaking on Lutyens, architect and town planner A K Jain said it was only after the announcement in 1911 about the change of capital to Delhi that the idea of a planned 'New Delhi' came in a city growing in a haphazard manner.

In her book 'Connaught Place and the Making of New Delhi', historian Swapna Liddle writes Lutyens was dismissive of Indian architectural styles, with Jain, who also authored Lutyens' Delhi, insisting that the credit for the city cannot go to one person, as he recalled the contribution of Maharaja of Jaipur, who gave land and money, and Indian engineers.

Jain said Mahatma Gandhi wanted the erstwhile Viceregal Lodge, now the Rashtrapati Bhavan, to be converted into a hospital or an educational institution.

In his remarks, Modi also heaped praise on another noted political figure of poll-bound Tamil Nadu - the late AIADMK leader and CM J Jayalalithaa. He recalled her efforts for good governance, women empowerment and his personal equation with her since he was chief minister of Gujarat. She had a special bond with women, he said.

"This is also because she made many commendable efforts in govt for the welfare of mothers, sisters, and daughters. She also took concrete steps to maintain law and order in the state. The spirit of patriotism was deeply embedded within her. She was also deeply proud of India's cultural heritage," he said of Jayalalithaa, an early votary of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, when even most regional satraps shunned the Hindutva plank.

PM recalled that she attended two of his swearing-in ceremonies as CM in Gujarat, in 2002 and 2012, and invited him to Chennai for lunch on Pongal. His praise of the two noted Tamil politicians comes as poll campaign picks up in the southern state.

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