The new Parliament building in Delhi's Central Vista is set to be inaugurated on May 28. The inauguration will take place in two phases, as per reports. The inauguration will be under the leadership of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla
To mark the inauguration of the new Parliament building, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be launching a special Rs 75 coin. One side of the coin will feature the Lion Capital of the Ashoka Pillar, with "Satyamev Jayate" written below it and "Bharat" written in Devanagari on the left side. India will be written in English
Parliament’s new building can accommodate 888 members in the lower house chamber (Lok Sabha) and 300 members in the upper house chamber (Rajya Sabha). This will be much more as compared to 543 seats in the older Lower House and 250 seats in the older Upper House
The new parliament building has been facing criticisms from Opposition leaders. These include:
- Its construction during the COVID-19 crisis
- The lion structure placed at the top of the building
- PM Modi inaugurating the new building instead of President Murmu
- Parliament's enormous construction cost of Rs 20,000 crore
- Its impact on the green cover in Delhi
20 opposition parties have decided to boycott the inauguration of the new parliament building. These include Indian National Congress (INC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Communist Party of India factions (CPI (M), CPI), Janata Dal United (JDU), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena (UBT)
A few days before the inaugural date, some Opposition leaders questioned the decision to have PM Narendra Modi preside over the inaugural ceremony and not President Droupadi Murmu. Though, a few days back Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had also inaugurated various premises within the Parliament
The Supreme Court dismissed a petition that sought the new Parliament building to be inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu. The petition sought directions from the apex court to the Lok Sabha Secretariat
PM Modi is set to install a sacred Sengol right next to the Chair of the Lok Sabha speaker inside the new Parliament building. It was a significant part of the coronation ceremony in the Chola dynasty. Though, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has claimed that there is no documented evidence of Lord Mountbatten, C Rajagopalachari and Jawaharlal Nehru calling Sengol a symbol of the transfer of power by the British to India
A Gujarat-based firm HCP Designs was roped in as a design consultant for the new Parliament building. As per reports, Rs 229.75 crore was paid to the firm. Its chief architect Bimal Patel is often referred to as the preferred architect of PM Modi and hence drew criticisms from the opposition. However, Central Vista's official website stated, “Firms were evaluated based on their detailed approach, methodology, and concept design presentation before being chosen for the project.”
It took two years and more than 60,000 workers to build the new Parliament building at an approximate cost of Rs 1,000 crore