How Modi Is Using Architecture To Build His “New India” Political Legacy

NEW DELHI — In 2019, amid the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the redevelopment of the Central Vista. Located in the heart of New Delhi, the redevelopment envisioned a new parliament, museum, and secretariat blocks, among others. The project objective, according to the tender, was for “[a] new Master Plan to be drawn up for the entire Central Vista area that represents the values and aspirations of a New India — Good Governance, Efficiency, Transparency, Accountability, and Equity and is rooted in the Indian Culture and social milieu.”

Restructuring elements of a capital complex are essential for creating a national identity and signaling a critical moment for the nation, emphasizing economic progress and societal change. However, it is important to note that these are defined by those in power, not the citizenry. The practices used in designing and renaming spaces and structures, as well as the motifs and statues positioned in the capital complex, borrow from particular traditions and moments from the past. But, their
function with respect to history is limited to providing a sanitized version or a narrative aligning with the contemporary political environment.

The “New India” under Modi has transitioned into an electoral autocracy wherein the suppression of civil society critical of these values and aspirations has become the norm. Central Vista acts as an empty symbol for the citizenry’s aspirations; there is an aestheticization of politics; the space grants expression to the masses but not rights. Modi obsesses with how the space evokes national pride and helps uplift Indian democracy. However, during his ten-year tenure, we have seen the collapse of democratic structures and the suppression of dissent. The result is an authoritarian political environment with a rule of law instead of a rule by law. The redevelopment of Central Vista spatializes his political project within the re-imagination of democratic values and national identity.

A symbol of conquest

Modi has been using the built environment to affirm his political conquest, a practice seen even before he entered national politics. Even as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Modi asserted his presence by undertaking massive redevelopment projects and modifying existing — and building new — monuments. Major projects in his home state include the Sabarmati Riverfront Project and the more recent Sabarmati Ashram Project, both muddled with controversy regarding project oversight, lack of public consultation, and tampering with historically significant spaces in the case of the Ashram. These issues are also prevalent in projects he has undertaken in Delhi as well.

Prior to Central Vista, Modi’s conquest of Delhi began with the demolition of Pragati Maidan and, in its place, the construction of the Bharat Mandapam. In 2017, Pragati Maidan lost its heritage site status due to a modification of the definition of heritage, which allowed the regime to demolish the building. Thus, Modi made political assertions through policy changes and legal measures with the intention of modifying public memory. Constructed in 1972 to commemorate 25 years of independence, Raj Rewal’s Pragati Maidan was an example of the evolution of Indian architecture and institutions.

Building mega infrastructure and redevelopment projects is common among leaders.

The Bharat Mandapam, inaugurated in 2023, was used during the G20 summit to showcase India’s fast-paced economic growth and the “unstoppable development journey of India” becomes a contradiction given the beautification drives — some of which took place 500 meters away from the structure — where authorities demolished and covered shantytowns with a green tarp in preparation of the event. The rationale given for the project — similar to the Sabarmati Riverfront Project — was to build “world-class” cities at the expense of the urban poor, as Renu Desai writes in Entrepreneurial Urbanism in the Time of Hindutva: City Imagineering, Place Marketing and Citizenship in Ahmedabad.

Building mega infrastructure and redevelopment projects is common among leaders, and contextualizing it within Modi’s projects is complex. For instance, the Museum of Prime Ministers near Central Vista presents a sanitized and glorified image of Modi, and even highlights the success of the Uri strikes or references to the Karsevaks (religious volunteers) involved in the demolition of Babri Masjid as activists; the underlying motivation is to highlight — and legitimize — a re-articulation of the past, a new history for “New India”, one presenting Modi and his cadre as saviors of Indian democracy and hinting at practices required to save it and from whom.

What about the statues?

The addition of symbols and structures in the capital complex is as important as the demolition of others. Erecting statues is one such way, the selection of the historical figures to be immortalized benefits the selectors and their legacy. Statues have been one such way Modi has visiblized his political project; for example, through the Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Patel and the statue of Ram under construction in Ayodhya. Two new statues have been installed as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project: a statue of Bose under the canopy near India Gate and Ashoka’s lions at the top of the parliament building.

The juxtaposition of the historical figures from different periods against a completely different space and backdrop is connected by an authoritarian narrative and ideology. Looking at these statues in future conditional tense and the two figures together raises the question: what is the suggestion and implication of the placement of the two statues so close to each other? A statue of Indian nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose, standing where the statue of King George V stood, towering over the citizenry, and at the other end, the Ashoka Lions depicted as violent with an expression of aggressiveness and an emphasis on the fangs, on top of the new parliament building. The spaces they occupy are important to public memory and association; the presence of the statues in the capital complex is in itself in line with a historical narrative that endorses aggression.

The statues have no intention of providing a holistic or historically accurate portrayal. In Bose’s case, they omit his ideas of socialism, Hindu-Muslim unity, and friendship with Nehru. Similarly, the Ashokan lions, which Nehru chose to symbolise calmness after the nation’s turmoil at the time of independence, drawing a parallel with Ashoka after Kalinga, is also overlooked. Instead, they are narrativized with the underpinnings of violence, hyper-masculinity, and revisionism. The statue of Bose acts as a reminder of figures from the freedom movement who disagreed (even momentarily) with Nehru and Gandhi. With Bose and Patel, we see a co-option of figures from the Congress, which shows the Hindu right’s lack of participation and presence in the independence struggle. The appearance and positioning of Ashokan Lions align with presenting a historical narrative that delegitimizes Nehru and insinuates violence. These two figures from very different timelines are located together to present a historical narrative delegitimizing Nehru and insinuating violence. Thus, an implicit notion of militant nationalism is being defined here.

The Disneyfication of Central Vista

Seen in its totality, the changes in the built environment focus on revisionism, emphasizing spectacularity and seeking legitimacy through it.

In a conversation, Swapna Liddle highlighted how the lawns’ landscaping takes away the imagery of how often common people access the space; the patches of grass show how heavy the footfall is and how often the public is using the space. The lawns of the India Gate post-independence were reclaimed by the public and used for leisure and, at times, dissent. Modi reconfigured the publicness, focusing on aesthetics and reimagining the space as a tourist spot to be captured in frames rather than experienced or used. He associated himself with these changes to show his active involvement with the space and build his cult personality. The Central Vista website states that:

Rashtrapati Bhavan, North and South Block, Parliament Buildings, and India Gate are illuminated […] the new dynamic LED facade lighting that changes color every few seconds […] The lighting system is dynamic and comprises 16 million color patterns, offering an enhanced aesthetic experience. The LED […] was inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister of India on 11th August 2017.

The dynamic changing lights, rendering a Disneyland-esque look to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, take away from the historical and cultural importance the building holds. Amenities, such as spaces for tourist buses and cars, selfie points, and underpasses, have been added to show that the redevelopment project is making the space “world-class” and “state of the art,” at the same time removing vendors from the India Gate strip and allowing them to sell in designated spots only or in limited spaces.

Beautifying militant nationalism

Modi’s successful political conquest with consecutive wins in the general elections has given him significant legitimacy and power, allowing him to make drastic changes not only to architecture but also to ideas of history and heritage whose impact stretches far beyond New Delhi to the nation-state. The newly built structures in Central Vista, which have completed a year since their inauguration in May 2023, were imagined to fulfill three critical goals of the party in power:

First, to celebrate a “New India”, an Atmanirbhar Bharat, the leader of the global south and to symbolise the shift away from colonial structures.

Creating such new structures seems innocuous until we see the regime’s underlying intentions.

Second, to overcome the logistical challenges of safety and security, which it has failed to address — as the parliament breach 2023 revealed – despite having this tenet as its core agenda.

The third reason stated was the increased seating capacity required after the delimitation of Lok Sabha, scheduled for 2026, which is only possible after an overdue census. Creating new structures on these grounds seems innocuous until we see how and when the project began and the regime’s underlying intentions.

In his speeches, Modi iterates that the space is for the citizens but changes who gets to be a citizen with CAA-NRC, paints a grim picture. The beautification and development supposedly capture the aspirations of the citizens, a cover for the actual political project of legitimizing his narrative of history, which glorifies right-wing groups and appropriates leaders who have been purportedly overlooked previously by Congress. The built environment articulates the values and the direction Modi’s New India is heading, as well as the militant nationalism it invokes from the citizenry.