Owaisi takes dig at PM Modi's 'new Parliament on 75th yr of freedom' plan; has alternative

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the new Parliament building, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said that an India with 'no hungry stomachs' would be better than a new building on the 75th Independence Day of the country. PM Modi had said that the new Parliament building will be ready when India will complete 75 years of Independence. 

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Prime Minister Modi in his speech had said, "Today is a historical day. It is like a pillar for the democracy of India. This is one of the main steps for ensuring the democracy of India. What will be purer than this - when India will celebrate 75th year of Independence, we will have a new Parliament building. It is a proud moment for 130 cr Indians. The new Parliament building is an example of juggling between new and old. I can never forget when I came here as an MP in 2014, I had bowed down in front of the Parliament House to pay my tribute to democracy. This parliament house played an important role in our independence struggle, the first independent house was here, first MP was also here. Our constitution was also made here. Babasaheb Ambedkar and others discussed constituency here in the central hall and gave us our constitution. This building is almost 100 years old. Earlier, we upgraded it as per needs. The walls were broken to accommodate as per needs, we even removed the walls to make space for Lok Sabha MP."

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Features of the New Parliament building

The new Parliament Complex will have an area of 64,500 square meters. It will also have a grand Constitution Hall to showcase India's democratic heritage, a lounge for members of Parliament, a library, multiple committee rooms, dining areas, and ample parking space.

In the new building, the Lok Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 888 members, while the Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats for members. The Lok Sabha chamber will have an option to increase its seating capacity to 1,224 members during joint sessions. This has been done keeping in mind the future increase in the number of members for the two houses. At present, Lok Sabha has a sanctioned strength of 543 members and Rajya Sabha 245.

In September this year, Tata Projects Limited won the bid to construct the new Parliament building. The new building will be constructed close to the existing one under the Central Vista redevelopment project. The existing Parliament House building will be suitably retro-fitted to provide more functional spaces for parliamentary events to ensure its usage along with the new building.

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