Done away with India’s slavery symbol, says PM Modi on rechristened Rajpath

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that Kingsway or Rajpath, also a symbol of “slavery” during the British Raj, had now been consigned to history and erased forever.

He said this after inaugurating Kartavya Path – the rechristened stretch of road between Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate earlier known as Rajpath, part of the government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project. He also unveiled a 28-feet-tall statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at the India Gate.

Modi said the renaming has given the country a new energy and inspiration. “If India had followed the path shown by Subhas Chandra Bose, the country would have reached a new high. Sadly, he was forgotten,” he said at the grand event.

Modi said a new era has begun in the form of ‘Kartavya Path’ as he congratulated the country’s citizens for coming out from “another symbol of colonialism.”

He said in the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence, the country has got new inspiration and new energy. “Today we are filling the picture of tomorrow, leaving behind the past, adding new colours to the picture of tomorrow. Today this new aura is visible everywhere, it is the aura of confidence of New India,” he said.

Netaji’s statue at India Gate will now inspire and guide us, Modi said. “We took many decisions in the last eight years which have imprints of Netaji’s ideals and dreams,” said the PM.

He also said that the changes undertaken by the government are not just limited to symbols but are now part of policies.

He thanked workers involved in the development of Kartavya Path and said that they not only built it but also showed others the way of ‘kartavya’ (duty).