Our Bureau
New Delhi
President Droupadi Murmu unveiled a bust of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, known as Rajaji, at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The event marks a big step to honor India’s freedom heroes.
The new bust replaces one of Edwin Lutyens, the British architect who built Rashtrapati Bhavan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised this move on social media. He called it a sign of India’s will to drop colonial shadows and celebrate its own leaders. PM Modi also urged people to visit the Rajaji Utsav at the President’s house.
Rajaji was India’s first and only Indian Governor-General after freedom in 1947. Born in 1878, he joined Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom fight early. As Madras Chief Minister, he opened temples to Dalits and eased farm debts. A writer too, he retold Ramayana and Mahabharata in simple Tamil and English. He got Bharat Ratna in 1954 and started the Swatantra Party for free markets.
President Murmu said Rajaji’s ideas on ethics and self-reliance guide us to a developed India by 2047. An exhibition on his life runs from February 24 to March 1. It shows his work in freedom, governance, and social change.
