"Changing name will not change history": Cong leader Harish Rawat on 'Amrit Udyan'

Rashtrapati Bhavan is home to a wide variety of gardens. President Droupadi Murmu has given a common name to the gardens as 'Amrit Udyan' to mark celebrations of 75 years of Independence as 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

"Changing the name will not change the history. Mughals were aggressors but they were rulers as well. Mughals did start some new traditions which strengthened the social history of our country," Congress leader Harish Rawat told ANI here.

Earlier on Saturday, Navika Gupta, Deputy Press Secretary to the President said, "On the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence as 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', the President of India has given a common name to the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens as 'Amrit Udyan'."

Expressing further on the 'Amrit Udyan' name, the Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat added, "Amrit should be represented by conduct, behaviour and thinking and not by changing the name. They need to change their thinking."

Ajay Singh, Press Secretary to President, said the collective identity of all the gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be 'Amrit Udyan'.

"Earlier there were descriptive identities, now a new identity has been given to the gardens," he said.

The Gardens will open for the general public on January 31 and will remain open till March 26, 2023 (except on Mondays which are maintenance days, and on March 8 on account of Holi). From March 28 to 31, the gardens will be open for special categories.

Between March 28-31, it will be open for farmers on March 28, for differently abled people on March 29, for personnel of the Defence Forces, Paramilitary Forces, and Police on March 30, and for women including tribal women's SHGs on March 31.

The gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan include East Lawn, Central Lawn, Long Garden and Circular Garden. During the terms of former Presidents Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Ram Nath Kovind, more gardens were developed - Herbal-I, Herbal-II, Tactile Garden, Bonsai Garden and Arogya Vanam.

The Gardens (Herbal Garden, Bonsai Garden, Central Lawn, Long Garden, and Circular Garden) will initially be open for about two months. (ANI)