On 23 February 2026, Rashtrapati Bhavan was the site of another brazen act of cultural vandalism: the bust of Edwin Lutyens, principal architect of New Delhi, was replaced by Rajaji’s — C. Rajagopalachari, the first and only governor-general of free India (1948-50).

Touted as another act of ‘decolonisation’, the BJP attempted further legitimisation by parading Rajaji’s great-grandson as a spokesperson. This is the latest in a series of opportunistic appropriations of the icons of India’s freedom struggle, from Patel to Bose, from Ambedkar to a conflicted Gandhi.

The pattern is as predictable as it is pernicious. Sardar Patel, with a little help from a gargantuan statue, is retooled as the strongman who would have pulverised Pakistan. Revolutionary Subhas Chandra Bose morphs into an electoral hologram, his socialism airbrushed away. Ambedkar becomes a saffron-hued supporter of ‘cultural revivalism’, his scorching critique of Hinduism conveniently kept aside.

Gandhi? Praised in Savarkar hagiographies, yet eternally guilty (in RSS folklore) of Partition. While of a piece with this pattern, Rajaji’s conscription bears a closer look. Yes, he marched with Gandhi, led the 1930 Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha and, as Madras Premier (1937-39) smashed caste barriers with temple-entry reforms. And yes, he bolted from Nehru’s socialism, forming his........

© National Herald