NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said Rajpath which symbolised India’s “slavery” had been consigned to history as he inaugurated the revamped Central Vista stretch with a new name, Kartavya Path, and unveiled a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.
Taking a swipe at the previous Congress governments, he said had India followed the path shown by Netaji, then the country would have reached new heights but the iconic leader was sadly forgotten and his symbols and ideas were ignored. Modi added that imprints of Netaji’s ideals and dreams are visible in the BJP government’s works.
“People will see the India of the future in them and its energy will instill them with a new vision for a great India,” he said. He also said that the changes undertaken by the Centre were not just limited to symbols but are now part of policies.
“This is neither the beginning nor the end,” Modi said of efforts towards removal of symbols of “slavery”, adding that “it is a relentless march of resolve with the goal of the freedom of one’s mind. Both thinking and behaviour of the countrymen are getting freed from the mentality of slavery.”
Noting that Rajpath, known as Kingsway earlier, was appropriate for the British Raj when India was under colonial rule. “Its spirit as well as architecture symbolised India’s slavery and now both have been changed,” he said.
“Kartavya Path will now remind all that we need to keep the nation first. When people of the country come here, the statue of Netaji and the National War Memorial will inspire them and fill them with their sense of duyy,” he said.
The revamped stretch from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate is estimated to have cost around Rs. 477 crore.
“This is an example of developing our cultural infrastructure,” Modi said and cited the Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Patel and the National War Memorial as other such examples.
“India has now set its own ideals, pledges and goals. Today, our paths and symbols are our own,” the Prime Minister said. In this ‘Amrit Mahotsav’, the country has now got new inspiration and new energy, he said.
The revamped stretch is part of the Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project.
Modi also thanked workers involved in the development of Kartavya Path and said that they not only built it but also showed the others way of ‘kartavya’ (duty). They will be his guests for the Republic Day parade on January 26, he said.
“As India celebrates ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, it is our resolve to have a feeling of pride in our traditional heritage and put the country on the path to unstoppable development,” he said.
Lauding Bose, Modi said he was the first head of “Akhand Bharat” who freed the Andaman islands before 1947 and hoisted the Tricolour. At that time Netaji had imagined what it would be like to hoist the Tricolour at the Red Fort, the Prime Minister noted.
The prime minister cited new AIIMS and medical colleges, IITs and water connections as examples of social infrastructure.
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