Faced with rising nationalism in #Bengal , #India's British colonial rulers fled Calcutta in 1911 to set up shop in #Delhi which offered the security and comfort of surrounding loyal princely states. Durbar with princes riding elephants and horses was high noon of British Raj. 1n

Delhi was 'central' to prized "British properties" in #India and its cantonments. It was also the capital of the Mughal Empire which the British Raj displaced in 1857. The masnad of Bahadurshah Zafar now belonged to the British King Emperor. This was political messaging. 2n

What else did Delhi offer? Long summers in Shimla, shikars in Rajputana, access to Punjab and beyond up to Khyber. Control over wealthy princely states which had pledged suzerainty to the crown, and those like Awadh and Jhansi which John Company had smashed and grabbed. 3n

In 1947 #India , impoverished by the British Raj, was too poor to consider a truly central capital for its Central Government. Its sovereign identity had to be mortgaged to the red sandstone relics of imperial rulers. Soviet style ugly buildings like Shastri Bhavan were added. 4n

Hoisting the Tricolour on the ramparts of Red Fort was also a British legacy. The Union Jack would fly there as a symbol of the final act of subjugation of the Mughal Empire, and its replacement by the British Empire. The Union Jack came down, the Tiranga went up. 5n

Mostly barren and uninhabited, Delhi grew from Kingsway Camp, first slowly and then with a burst as refugees flooded the nascent city in 1947 and immigrants poured in after 1950s to staff an ever growing, ever expanding babu-reliant Big Government. Delhi became New Delhi. 6n

In 2020 #India is sufficiently rich to begin planning a new Capital city in a place that is central to the country. Bastar is one of many possibilities. A sovereign state must have its own symbols of sovereignty and not those a colonial state left behind as a stained legacy. 7n

Government is no longer about managing cantonments, polo & shikar with princes, long indolent summers in Shimla, pomp & grandeur of imperialism, subjugation of recalcitrant tributary states and viceregal balls. It's about people. Delhi ensures tyranny of distance from masses. 8n

India was and remains much, much larger than what Lutyens's Delhi can ever encapsulate, reflect or represent. New #India needs a new Capital that connects with the masses beyond Delhi's immediate confines. Delhi was and remains a city built to further imperial interests. 9n

That would no doubt take time, resources and planning. Perhaps 100th year of the Republic of #India would be a good occasion to celebrate from a new Capital?
For the moment, we must make do with a new Parliament House and a new Central Vista. Why not rename Rajpath too? 10n