The making of a new Parliament

First Voice, Last Word

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Central Vista, the area in the Capital which marks the power centre with Rashtrapati Bhawan on one end and India Gate at the other, and all important government offices in the vicinity. The inauguration last week also heralds the end of another landmark- the 100-year-old Parliament building. In this episode of First Voice, Last Word, Sunetra Choudhury tells you all you need to know about this change. For instance, did you know that it was this circular Parliament building which also used to be the location of the Supreme Court of India? PRS legislative's Chakshu Roy tells us that the two institutions shared the same space till Supreme Court got its own building a few kilometres away. In fact, even the UPSC's predecessor, the federal service commission was also in the same building. Parliament sessions would be held here in winter, while in the summer, everyone would work from Shimla. However, as this colonial summer getaway didn't work post-independence, the building needed constant updates- from air conditioning, to phone lines to finally, the internet age. Till finally, the current government decided that it was time to move to a brand new building. This move has left all the MPs feeling very nostalgic. We speak to BJP's Prakash Javdekar, NCP's Supriya Sule and Congress' Kamal Nath. ``This round-shaped Parliament has a peculiar architecture and we enjoyed a lot. I used to take walk whenever I get time. The total round shape is 650 steps and that used to give us, 2 rounds make 1 km. That’s how we used to take 4,5,6 rounds whenever time permits. I found this habit with Ghulam Nabi Azad. He also used to take rounds and we used to chat,'' said Javdekar. ``I can’t explain it in words but, you know, you are so proud of hearing the national anthem if we hear it or sing it. Especially, when you hear it in Parliament, I don’t know happens, but it’s something very very special. I think, it emotionally just brings up all the moments one has read about, seen in visuals. Tallest leaders from all party sides, all ideologies have taken this vibrant democracy of 75 years that we are celebrating. I think, it all starts from there, the real story starts from that building. It’s a beautiful building because it’s even an architectural marvel,'' said NCP's Supriya Sule, who followed father's footsteps into Parliament. One of the longest serving MPs, Kamal Nath said, ``We need modernity but do we need a new building? You could build another annexe. I remember the annexe was built. When I joined Parliament there was no annexe then there was a new annexe. Because you don't play around with history.''