NEW DELHI, May 28 (Portal) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated India’s new parliament building, a modern complex that is part of his Hindu nationalist government’s grand plan to recreate British colonial-era architecture in the country’s capital to design.
The inauguration and ongoing transformation of the heart of New Delhi based on Indian culture, traditions and symbols comes a year ahead of general elections in which Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is emphasizing its strong Hindu nationalist credentials and performance has assumed office in the last decade to seek a third term.
In the early morning, Modi held traditional prayers outside the complex as part of a ceremony attended by senior cabinet ministers. He then lit a traditional lamp in Parliament.
Later, the Prime Minister entered Parliament to loud cheers from guests, government officials and lawmakers, and many greeted him with “Modi, Modi”.
“This new complex will be a testament to India’s independence,” he said in a speech.
The event was boycotted by 20 opposition parties, who said Modi broke protocol to inaugurate the new complex and take the spotlight when the president, the country’s top executive, should have done so.
“Opening a new parliament building without the opposition does not mean that there is democracy in the country. It is an incomplete event,” Supriya Sule, an opposition leader, told ANI news agency.
[1/9] A view of India’s new parliament building in New Delhi, India, May 27, 2023. India’s Press Information Office/Handout via Portal
During the inauguration ceremony, a parliament official read out a note from President Droupadi Murmu welcoming Modi’s inauguration of the complex.
The Modi government has dismissed the opposition’s argument on the grounds that no protocol has been violated and that the prime minister respects the country’s constitutional leader.
The new parliament complex is at the heart of a $2.4 billion project that aims to eclipse the importance of colonial-era buildings in the center of the capital and give way to modern buildings with a strong Indian identity .
Late on Saturday, Modi said on Twitter that the new parliament is “truly a beacon of our democracy.”
In addition to modern technology, the new parliament will have a total of 1,272 bicameral seats, almost 500 more than the old building and at least three times the space to accommodate new lawmakers in the world’s most populous country.
The triangular Parliament complex is directly opposite the old, round, listed building, built by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1927, two decades before India’s independence.
The old parliament will be turned into a museum.
Reporting by Rupam Jain and Aditya Kalra; Edited by YP Rajesh, Kim Coghill and Himani Sarkar
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