‘Rajasthan as Kartavyasthan?’ Shashi Tharoor's question on Kartavyapath

Shashi Tharoor is among the opposition leaders who have targeted the government over the renaming of the Rajpath.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is well known for his wide vocabulary. His prowess at wordplay also often comes to notice along with his oratory skills. But it may not be always possible for a politician to keep the jibes and sarcasm away from the comments on the latest happenings.

Rajpath has now been christened as Kartavyapath.  (Ministry of housing and urban affairs)

Tharoor often uses this skill to take aim at the Congress rivals. In one of the recent posts on Twitter, the Congress MP from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram targeted the Centre. His comment was a reference to the christening of Rajpath as "Kartavya Path".

“If Rajpath is to be renamed KartavyaPath, shouldn't all Raj Bhavans become Kartavya Bhavans? Why stop there? Rename Rajasthan as Kartavyasthan? (sic)” Tharoor wrote in a tweet on Saturday, while sharing an opinion piece by Livemint.

The Kartavya Path was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. "It symbolises a shift from erstwhile Rajpath being an icon of power to Kartavya Path being an example of public ownership and empowerment," a government statement read.

Along with the Kartavya Path, a 28 feet tall statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose - carved from a monolithic granite stone and weighs 65 MT - was also inaugurated by PM Modi.

The move to rename was pitched as a step to shed the colonial baggage. "⁦Remove that mindset that enslaved us for centuries @PMOIndia said from the Red Fort. From Kingsway to Rajpath to Kartavya Path — India sheds its colonial legacy," finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman wrote in a tweet.

However, several opposition leaders apart from Tharoor have critcised the renaming.