PM Modi leads MPs into new House
The 1927 building, where Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his famous “tryst with destiny” speech, has now been renamed as what PM Modi termed Samvidhan Sadan
A colourful procession led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the historic switch over from the 96-year-old iconic circular building to the mammoth lion-capitol-topped triangular edifice on Central Vista as the home of India’s democracy moved next door on Tuesday.
The 1927 building, where Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his famous “tryst with destiny” speech and where the Constitution was drafted and adopted, has now been renamed as what Prime Minister Modi termed Samvidhan Sadan.
Early on Tuesday, members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha gathered at the historic Central Hall of the old Parliament building, dressed in colourful attire, for a function to commemorate the rich legacy of Parliament and gear up for a new temple of democracy.
During the function, vice-president and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar sat on the dais flanked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were seated on the extreme corners of the stage.
This was followed by a group photograph of Rajya Sabha members against the backdrop of the Samvidhan Sadan, and later a group photograph of Lok Sabha members.
As soon as the function at the Central Hall ended, the PM led a procession of parliamentarians towards the new Lok Sabha building. Though the PM has a designated gate to enter the new building, he entered the House for the first proceeding, along with all the other MPs, through the Makar Dwar — one of the five gates of the new building.
BJP president JP Nadda, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union home minister Amit Shah walked beside the PM. A designated corridor was created for the VVIPs and the MPs. They came out of Gate no. 1, or the main gate of the old building. It was at the same place where Modi bowed before the Constitution when he came to Parliament for the first time as an elected member in 2014.
The proceedings in the new Lok Sabha chamber started at 1.15 pm.
Earlier in the day, Modi shunned the usual practice of driving down to the Parliament gate and walked down the internal road of the Parliament complex to join the special programme in the Central Hall.