Rajagopalachari Statue to Replace Lutyens at Rashtrapati Bhavan:
The Prime Minister of India announced that the statue of British architect Edwin Lutyens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be replaced by that of C. Rajagopalachari.While Edwin Lutyens designed the monumental Rashtrapati Bhavan, C. Rajagopalachari holds the distinction of being the first Indian occupant of the building as the Head of State. Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, popularly known as Rajaji, was a towering Indian freedom fighter, politician, and the first and last Indian Governor-General of independent India.Inspired by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he joined the Indian National Congress and took part in the freedom struggle and later hosted Mahatma Gandhi during the anti-Rowlatt agitation.He led the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha (1930) from Tiruchi to Vedaranyam.Rajaji served as the Prime Minister of Madras Province (1937), where he promoted Khadi, and advocated for the abolition of the Zamindari system.Rajaji formed the Swatantra Party in 1959 which actively campaigned for a market economy. As the Chief Minister of Madras State, one of his first acts was to decontrol the distribution of foodgrains and their prices.He founded an ashram in Madras Province (1925) for social upliftment, and published Vimochanam (Tamil) and Prohibition (English).He won the 1958 Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil literature for his retelling of the Ramayana, titled Chakravarthi Thirumagan.He was one of the first three recipients of India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna (1954) alongside Dr. S. Radhakrishnan and C.V. Raman.
