From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The new Parliament House to be dedicated to the nation on May 28 by Prime Minister Modi is not his brainchild as being projected. He had also laid its foundation to claim it as his idea to replace the old building constructed during the British regime.
His claim of nothing positive in India until he came to power in 2014 is reflected in the way he projected the concept of the new Parliament. The idea of a new Parliament to house 1200 members was actually mooted in 2012 by then Lok Sabha Speeaker Meira Kumar, seeking financial sanction from the government. It was, however, short down by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
After her, another Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, an MP from Indore, had also wanted a House with the latest technological facilities to be built. She hd written to then urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu bout her proposal, saying the 88-year old heritage structure is showing signs of “distress” and it will not be able to meet the growing demandfor space.
Foundation stone of the historic Parliament House was laid in 1921 and it was built at a cost of Rs 83 lakh and inaugurated in January 1927,
While giving reasons for constructing a new building, Mahajan said the number of seats in the Lok Sabha is likely to up after 2026 while the present seating capacity of the House was 550 without any scope of increase. She pointed out that the number of seats to be determined on the basis of population of the last Census (possibly 2021 Census).
She had suggested two options for the alternative building: One within the Parliament complex and another across Rajpath and an underground link beween Rajpath which is suitably large area and would enable a free design of a new Parliament House and the proposed compex.
When the idea reached Prime Minister Modi, he jumped over it with a score of changes and construction of many other government buildings ignoring the Opposition protests that the Indian Parliament building is quite modern and its magestic structure holds very special significance for all Indians. They pointed out that the US Capital that houses the US Congrress since 1800 and the Palace of Westminster serving as the home to British Parliament for centuries have often undergone extensive renovations and rebuilding.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wants President Droupadi Murmu to inaugurate the Parliament Building, but Modi is in the habit of his claim on anything new and so he will be dedicating it to the nation on Sunday.
