New Delhi,May 28,2023:Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the new parliament building in New Delhi in a grand ceremony.
Modi opened the new parliament house, which he called “a cradle of empowerment”, on Sunday by offering prayers as Hindu priests chanted religious hymns at the start of the ceremony.
“The new parliament isn’t just a building; it is the symbol of the aspiration of the 140 crore [1.4 billion] people of India,” Modi said in an address after the inauguration.
“This new complex will be evidence of self-reliant India,” he said.
The new parliament building is part of plan by Modi’s nationalist government to revamp British colonial-era architecture, including the old parliament building, which will likely be converted into a museum.
Home Minister Amit Shah said the opposition has politicised the event, and other leaders from Modi’s party described the boycott as “an insult to the prime minister”.
The new triangular-shaped building, built at an estimated cost of $120m, is part of a $2.8bn revamp of British-era offices and residences in the capital, which will also include blocks of buildings to house government ministries and departments and Modi’s new private residence. The entire project, called the Central Vista, is 3.2km (1.9 miles) long.
The parliament complex is just across from the old, circular heritage building built by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1927, two decades before India’s independence.
The new parliament has 1,272 seats in two chambers, nearly 500 more than the previous building, and at least three times as much space to accommodate new lawmakers.
The project was announced in 2019, and Modi laid its foundation stone a year later in December 2020.
The plan has drawn intense criticism from opposition politicians, architects and heritage experts, many of whom have called it environmentally irresponsible, a threat to cultural heritage and too expensive.
Modi’s government said the revamp was necessary because the older building was “showing signs of distress and overutilisation” and the new design “combines the country’s heritage and traditions”.
