The Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will now be known as Amrit Udyan, according to an official statement issued on Saturday.
BJP leaders hailed the decision, saying it had shredded yet another “symbol of colonialism” — a phrase that has received a fresh lease of life after the BBC showed a documentary on Narendra Modi that the Centre found unpalatable.
The Opposition parties advised the government to focus on creating jobs and controlling inflation.
The official web page tracing the history of the Mughal Gardens, often described as the soul of Rashtrapati Bhavan, was not opening on Saturday evening. It is probably being updated.
The gardens followed the Mughal style, apparently at the bidding of Lady Hardinge when the Viceroy’s House (which eventually metamorphosed into Rashtrapati Bhavan) was built on Raisina Hills in Delhi after the British shifted the capital from Calcutta in 1911.
Lady Hardinge was said to have been inspired by the book, Gardens of the Great Mughals, and trips to the Mughal gardens in Lahore and Srinagar.
The government had last year renamed Delhi’s Rajpath as Kartavya Path. The renaming of the stretch and other institutions is in line with the Centre’s effort to remove any trace of the colonial mindset, the government has said.
While the Congress did not officially react to the name change, the Trinamul Congress and the CPI rubbished the move with the Left party terming it an “attempt to rewrite history”.
The resplendent gardens are opened to the public once a year, and people can visit from January 31 this year.
President Droupadi Murmu will grace the opening of the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan — Udyan Utsav 2023 — on Sunday, the official statement said.
On the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence as “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, the President of India is pleased to give a common name to the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens as “Amrit Udyan”, Navika Gupta, deputy press secretary to the President, said in the statement.
Union ministers and BJP leaders hailed the decision as a move towards a “new India”. “Welcome and thank Hon’ble President Droupadi Murmu Ji for renaming the iconic gardens at the President House as Amrit Udyan. This new name not only shreds yet another symbol of a colonial relic but also reflects India’s aspirations for the Amrit Kaal,” Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Twitter.
Law minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted: “Our Hon’ble President of India, Droupadi Murmu Ji sets an example by renaming the iconic gardens at the President House as Amrit Udyan. A powerful symbol of our nation’s progress and a reflection of a brighter future for New India.”
The Opposition said the government should focus on job creation and controlling inflation.
“Who knows, they might now want to rename the Eden Gardens and call it Modi Gardens! They should focus on creating jobs, controlling inflation and protecting the precious resources of LIC and SBI,” the Trinamul parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien, told PTI.