PM lays foundation stone for the new parliament

PM Narendra Modi recently performed the ground-breaking ceremony to mark the symbolic launch of the new Parliament building as part of the “controversial” Central Vista plan.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi said that it would be a symbol of a new and self-reliant India as well as a rich testament to the nation’s cultural heritage.

Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone and performing the ground-breaking ceremony, Modi urged the people to take a pledge to keep “India First” and asserted that every decision should increase the strength of the country, whose interest is paramount.

Asserting that Indian democratic traditions predate the Magna Carta, a 13th century document many scholars consider as the framework for a modern republic, the Prime Minister said that the day New Parl will be testament to Amtmanirbhar Bharat. The making of the new Parliament building is an example of co-existence of the new with the old, he said.

“I can never forget the moment in my life when I had the opportunity to come to Parliament House for the first time in 2014 as an MP. Before stepping in, I bowed and saluted this temple of democracy,” Modi said. “The current Parliament building played an important role in pre and post independent India. The first government of an independent India was formed here and the first sitting of Parliament took place here, our Constitution was drafted here, our democracy was re-established here. Babasaheb Ambedkar and others, after deep deliberations in the Central Hall, gave us a Constitution,” he said.

The Prime Minister asserted that every member who enters the Parliament is accountable to the public as well as the Constitution. Modi said that there are no rituals as such to consecrate this temple of democracy. It is the representatives of the people who come to this temple that will consecrate it, Modi added.

The new building will seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha Chamber with an option to increase to 1,224 members during joint sessions. The Rajya Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 384 members, with an expanded capacity in view of future requirements.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union ministers, MPs, foreign envoys and religious leaders, along with Industrialist Ratan Tata, whose Tata Projects has the contract for the new Parliament building, were present for the occasion.