The opposition parties can consider renaming Raj Bhavans as Kartavya Bhavans in states they rule, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri has said, retorting to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and TMC leader Mahua Moitra’s jibes on rechristening of the Rajpath.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-News18 on the newly inaugurated and revamped central boulevard between India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan, Hardeep Singh Puri also dismissed Mamata Banerjee’s contention that the BJP-led central government installed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s statue under the canopy for political gains in West Bengal.
The Union Minister said Mahatma Gandhi’s statue could not possible be installed in a War Memorial and that Sardar Patel’s giant image stands at the Statue of Unity. It was finally time to give Netaji his due, Puri said.
Edited excerpts:
Your political opponents question what has changed except for its name from Rajpath to Kartavya Path…
For me, it has been a great privilege. I have done many different things in life. I have spent 39 years in another profession, but this is what I think. It is a truly transformational infrastructure project. The Kartavya Path on which you and I are standing today constitutes the first segment of this large project.
It will define and give shape to the architecture of governance, both executive and legislative, for the next 200 years. I could give some statistics of a very basic nature. The Kartavya Path on which we are standing and the greenery that you see around was conceived and implemented 100 years ago. We have replanted 101 acres of grass here. The areas beyond the canals were not accessible. We have built 16 bridges on those.
If you look at the pedestrian pathway, those along the Kartavya Path have been reinforced, but we have also added 16.5 km of additional pedestrian pathways. The water bodies date back a century. They have been reinforced and aeriated. The jamun trees have all been catalogued. Not a single tree has been removed and we have planted 110 additional trees. Those are physical attributes.
It is the first segment of this transformation project. This has been embraced by the people. I wanted to share with you how many people actually come here despite the heat and humidity. And the figure is an impressive 1,50,000.
But it could have been the same case had it been Rajpath.
You mean the name? Yeah.
Then what’s in the name?
I’m a student of history. India, as we know it, is a 7,000-year-old civilisation. It ranks very high and enjoys a place of pride among the ancient civilisations. Do you want to define your existence for the next 100 years based on the last 190 years? We have not removed anything that carries cultural legacy.
So you are saying it is about shedding the colonial past. But Rajpath was named only after 1947. Before that, it was Kingsway.
In post-colonial societies, shedding the remains of the colonial mind-set takes time. Look at societies that became independent after WWII. Those that acquired new status in the 1960s. See the transformation. The countries that claim what is theirs do economically well. We can argue in terms of the pace. The government in 1947 decided that we will continue to be a part of the Commonwealth. You can argue how relevant some of these groupings are and what is their relevance in the resurgence of India.
Why not Sardar Patel or Mahatma Gandhi’s statue? Your opponents like Mamata Banerjee say the BJP sees West Bengal as a catchment area and that’s why it’s going all out to claim the legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose.
Surely she is not suggesting that Mahatma Gandhi should be under the canopy? That is the War Memorial. Mahatma Gandhi is the apostle of peace and non-violence, somebody who gave a call for Ahimsa.
But why not some other leader?
It is a question of choice which a democratically elected government has to exercise. As far as Subhas Chandra Bose is concerned, let me say that those who are finding faults with him should look at Bose’s contribution to the national effort. Here is a man in the ICS exam, is ranked fourth in the overall list. He decides after a year or so to resign. He becomes a prominent leader of the Congress party in order to garner support for the freedom struggle. He is the one person who is willing to make a sacrifice, to take up arms. He travels all the way to Germany and then takes the submarine ride all the way from there to Japan to what was then called Formosa, now Taiwan now.
In the 1930s, there is leadership struggle within the Congress and Bose is completely side-lined. All I am saying is that projects like Kartavya Path and the Central Vista become an opportunity for you to give them their due share. Has Sardar Patel been sufficiently venerated? I would think so with the Statue of Unity. I think this government, more than any other government, has not only acknowledged that, but has also brought it into public conscience.
Now in the case of Bose’s statue, I have not heard any opposition to it. But what I have heard is in doing so, you are trying to chart your political journey into a place. Let us be clear, there is no opposition to Bose per se.
You have already said that the new Parliament building will be unveiled during the Winter Session. Are you committing to that or will you be changing the timeline?
I have been a member of the Council of Ministers for five years and this is one portfolio I have been associated with as a part of the PM’s team. I have said repeatedly that when you execute large infrastructural projects, particularly ones which have profound transformative impact like this one… Kartavya Path, which we completed in 18 months during the pandemic, could have been done a week or two earlier. When you come to the final unveiling, there is always this dilemma of can we get 2-3 things sorted out before it is formally launched. We faced the same dilemma with this one. It could have been done 15-20 days earlier.
As far as the Parliament building is concerned, we have said repeatedly that we are working as per a timeline wherein the Winter Session will be inaugurated in that building. We work on the best endeavour basis when I talk to the company that is executing the project and those who are supervising it.
I tend to be among those who have positive outlook towards life, but I also don’t tend to be bullish. Because I know I have my senior civil service colleagues and others who ask me to slow down and tell me on record. Based on the discussions I have had and the fact that these projects are being constantly monitored at the very highest levels of the government without interference, we are ensuring that the timeline is respected.
One question that has been raised by your fellow parliamentarians Shashi Tharoor and Mahua Moitra is that since Rajpath has become Kartavya Path, will Raj Bhavans will also be renamed Kartavya Bhavans?
There’s an administrative lesson I was taught by one of India’s earliest PMs. When he was questioned, he often responded with a wise-crack or counter question. My question to these two luminaries is — why not. Why don’t they set an example by renaming the Raj Bhavan as Kartavya Bhavan in their states?
But can it be done by the state government?
We can consider it.
Harish Khare, media adviser to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, said the entire Central Vista project is nothing more than what Mayawati did in Lucknow two decades ago. What will you say to this kind of interpretation? Is it vanity?
Harish used to be a friend. He was also lecturer in a DU college. But for someone to compare Mayawati’s statue to a project like this… I’m not brushing her aside. I greatly respect her. This is the artery of governance for a country which will celebrate its 100th anniversary as a developed country.
I will take you to those Panch Pran that the PM outlined. I have a feeling that we will be the largest economy by 2030 and there is no individual’s name in that. Now, I can travel from my place to Indira Gandhi International Airport and I can cross JNU etc. Not a single of these (Modi government) projects or schemes are named after an individual. It Is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, which is named after the institution. The Jawaharlal Museum is being expanded to become PM’s museum. I don’t know where this vanity comes from.
We are sitting members of Parliament. I am not particularly tall, but my knees hit the front seat, I barely have place to sit. Now, every member of Parliament will have a place of their own. Today, if we have joint session of Parliament, how do we do it? We go to the central hall.
By 2026-2027 that embargo on delimitation will be over. You will need another 200 seats. This government thinks ahead. These buildings should not have been constructed in the 1960s. It is not a very good reflection of whoever was governing here. So now hopefully, very soon, you will have the executive and defence enclave. You have a situation here where one part of the ministry is lying in another part. I was in the MEA when I went to join the service to sign up. It was in South Block. When I became an under-secretary, it was in Shastri Bhawan.
From a civil servant to minister-in-charge of this entire change, you have travelled a long way. Miles to go before we sleep as they say. What are your finals thoughts as we walk on Kartavya Path? What more should we expect in coming weeks or months?
I am 70 years old and have had a long innings but this is a young country. The younger generations will be in the position of commenting and making public opinion. I’m sure they’ll draw not just satisfaction but pride too that here was a PM who actually got it done.
Isn’t it remarkable that all has been done without any dislocation? It has been done seamlessly. My message to those who are seeking relevance through negative comments is celebrate the fact that Netaji has his rightful place in terms of acknowledgement under the canopy where the statue of George V stood. He (Netaji believed that decisive impetus for national movement can be caused if you don’t follow just peaceful, appeasement negotiating means.
Many more events on Kartavya Path is the beginning of celebration as you say?
It is not the beginning of celebration, it is now public space. There is also something inherent our people have felt during Covid-19 lockdown. Why are we not celebrating the fact that we are reclaiming our lives and in that process this Kartavya Path is significant. We did not want to keep it closed after the PM unveiled it.
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