"For years, the 'Lutyens' moniker has served as the Prime Minister’s preferred shorthand for a detached, Anglicized elite. By replacing his image with that of C. Rajagopalachari, the government isn't just swapping statues; it is performing a ritual of decolonisation. Yet, there is a distinct irony in the choice: while Rajaji is being resurrected as a national icon of 'Indic' wisdom, he remains a peripheral figure in the Dravidian-led politics of his own home state."
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Sunday that a statue of British architect Edwin Lutyens will be replaced by one of C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan. By elevating the former Governor-General (1948–1950), the Centre is framing the move as a symbolic strike against a 'mentality of slavery'—a key pillar in its broader campaign of decolonisation."
"The politics of the move is deliberately multilayered. For decades, 'Lutyens' has been more than an architectural style; it has been a synonym for a secluded, Anglicised elitism. By replacing the architect’s bust, the BJP is effectively staging an assault on the 'Lutyens Lobby'—the globalized, liberal establishment that the Prime Minister has long framed as the antithesis of the New India. In this symbolic clearing of the capital, the Congress 'first family' is cast not just as political rivals, but as the primary custodians of a fading, colonial-era prestige."
PM Modi has used the term Lutyens in a pejorative manner in the past. For instance, in March 2025, he said, in the context of the continuation of colonial-era laws, “I am surprised that the Lutyens Jamaat and the Khan Market Gang have been silent on this for so many years. The people who are the thekedaar of PIL, those who visit court every now and then, why weren’t they worried about liberty back then?”
"The replacement of the bust is the physical manifestation of a rhetorical war the Prime Minister has waged for years. Just last March, Modi sharpened his attack on the 'Lutyens Jamaat' and the 'Khan Market Gang,' accusing them of a hypocritical silence regarding colonial-era shackles. 'The people who are the thekedaar of PIL,' he noted, 'those who visit court every now and then—why weren’t they worried about liberty back then?' By framing 'Lutyens' not just as a place, but as a complicit silence, the PM has set the stage for Rajaji’s arrival as a symbol of reclaimed sovereignty."
"In several landmark addresses last year, Prime Minister Modi called on the nation to 'put the locks on' a Western mindset that has dominated India since 1835. He was referring to Thomas Macaulay’s infamous project—a deliberate effort to dismantle indigenous knowledge systems and enforce a colonial education designed to reshape the very foundations of Indian thought."
"The symbolism of Rajaji, however, faces a complex reception in his home state of Tamil Nadu. While the Centre elevates him as a decolonial hero, the Dravidian movement—led by the legacy of Periyar—long ago relegated Rajaji to the periphery. As a Tamil Brahmin who famously championed compulsory Hindi in 1937, Rajaji represents the very ideological framework that the Dravidian project sought to dismantle. Consequently, his 'homecoming' at Rashtrapati Bhavan may resonate deeply as a national statement, but it is unlikely to move the needle in the upcoming Tamil Nadu elections."
"The symbolism of Rajaji, however, faces a complex reception in his home state of Tamil Nadu. While the Centre elevates him as a decolonial hero, the Dravidian movement—led by the legacy of Periyar—long ago relegated Rajaji to the periphery. As a Tamil Brahmin who famously championed compulsory Hindi in 1937, Rajaji represents the very ideological framework that the Dravidian project sought to dismantle. Consequently, his 'homecoming' at Rashtrapati Bhavan may resonate deeply as a national statement, but it is unlikely to move the needle in the upcoming Tamil Nadu elections."
"Rajaji’s career was defined by such polarities. In 1953, as Chief Minister, he introduced a controversial education scheme that mandated students learn their 'family trade'—a move critics savaged as a back-door attempt to reinforce caste hierarchies. The ensuing row forced his resignation, paving the way for K. Kamaraj and the withdrawal of the scheme.
Yet, from the ashes of state-level defeat, Rajaji emerged as the primary intellectual challenger to Jawaharlal Nehru. By founding the pro-market Swatantra Party, he became the vanguard against Nehruvian socialism. His gravitational pull was immense; Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, who joined his ranks, remembered him as the 'acknowledged elder statesman' who broke with the Congress because Nehru’s doctrines were 'out of keeping with the needs of Indians.'
In her memoirs, the Maharani captured the essence of the man the Centre now seeks to honor: an 'exceedingly thin, erect old man' in a starched dhoti who, even amidst the pomp of Rashtrapati Bhavan, remained a 'true Tamil Brahmin'—austere, disciplined, and utterly unswayed by the trappings of British power."
She added, “He had a high bald head, a network of laughter lines around sharply observant eyes and a wide, ironic smile, and he expressed himself in perfectly phrased, elegant English. He was an intellectual and a fine scholar, and he could capture the imagination of a crowd at a political meeting. He went to jail for acts of civil disobedience to promote a national cause, yet he spent his spare time making brilliant translations of the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, from Sanskrit into Tamil and into English.”
"To understand the replacement of the statue, one must understand the man who defined the capital’s skyline. Born in London in 1869, Edwin Lutyens was more than an architect; he was the master planner of the British Raj’s final, grand statement. Tasked in 1912 with shifting the capital from Kolkata, he draped New Delhi in a classical Roman style, punctuated by Indian motifs that were largely ornamental.
Historian Narayani Gupta notes a telling glimpse into his character: when workmen once created a caricature of him, Lutyens was so amused—or perhaps self-assured—that he took it to London to hang outside his office. Yet, while Lutyens’ name remains etched into the city's geography (even in the small roads near Minto Bridge), his aesthetic legacy is now viewed through a harsher lens. By removing his bust from the very buildings he designed—the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Blocks—the Centre is symbolically dismantling the 'Roman' authority he sought to immortalize."
