New Parliament Bhumi Puja Live Updates: PM says Central Vista proof of Aatmanirbhar India

PM Modi at groundbreaking of New Parliament Complex said, "The day is not far that the world will say 'India is the mother of democracy"

PM Modi says new Parliament building is a proof of Aatmanirbhar Bharat 

PM Modi 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 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 look sabha MP."

New Parliament Bhumi Puja Live Updates: Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla addresses guests 

New Parliament Bhumi Puja Live Updates: Harivansh Narayan Singh reads out messages from President Ram Nath Kovind and vice president Venkaiah Naidu to PM Modi

New Parliament Bhumi Puja Live Updates: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri addresses guests on the new Parliament building ceremony 

New Parliament Building Bhumi Puja Live Updates: Bhumi Pujan underway

New Parliament Building Bhumi Puja Live Updates: Interfaith prayers taking place ahead of groundbreaking ceremony

New Parliament Building Bhumi Puja Live Updates: Interfaith prayers ongoing 

New Parliament Building Bhumi Puja Live Updates: PM Modi begins Bhumi Pujan 

New Parliament Building Bhumi Puja Live Updates: MoS G Kishan Reddy says the new building will stand as a beacon of our nation’s aspirational future

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday directed the agencies involved in the construction of the new parliament building to be vigilant of the heritage character of the present complex while carrying out works to build the new structure, a statement from the Secretariat of the lower House said. The Speaker also directed that care should be taken while shifting all the existing statues to new locations within the Complex in view of the construction of the new Parliament House building, it said.

According to the statement, Birla on Saturday conducted an on-site review of the ongoing construction work for the new Parliament House building. The Speaker emphasised that cleanliness and proper upkeep in the Parliament House, including the ongoing cleaning of the building, should be accorded top priority, said the official statement.

New Parliament Bhumi Puja LIVE Updates: What is the Centra Vista project?

The Central Vista is  heritage project, declared in the 1962 Master Plan of Delhi as an “important site to meet the aspirations of a rich culture”. Under it, the new Parliament Building Complex will be spread over 64,500 square metres. The building will be bigger than the current Parliament building. so as to seat 888 MPs in the Lok Sabha chamber and 384 MPs in the Rajya Sabha chamber. Moreover, all parliamentarians are expected to get separate offices in the new complex.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday announced that the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the new Parliament building will be held on December 10 at 1 pm. The Lok Sabha speaker added that the 'bhumi pujan' will be conducted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

 "Our temple of democracy, which is going to be 100-years-old, is ready to see the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the new building being built by us in independent India," he said.  "It has been decided that the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new Parliament building will be held on 10th December at 1 pm. The ceremony will begin with 'bhumi pujan' by the Prime Minister," he added.

Om Birla also stated that on the completion of 75 years of India's independence, the Winter session of both the upper and the lower house will begin in the new Parliament building. "There will be approximately 888 seats for Lok Sabha members and more than 326 seats for Rajya Sabha members in the new building. Lok Sabha hall will be able to accommodate 1224 members simultaneously," he said adding that the 'temple of Aatmanirbhar Bharat' will reflect the diversity of the nation. "It will be 17,000 sq.m bigger than the old Parliament building," he remarked. 

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed its displeasure over the way the Central government is going ahead with construction work for the Central Vista project while the top court is still in the process of hearing a batch of petitions challenging it. The top court reserved its judgment on November 5, and said that no construction should be done in the area till its judgment is pronounced.The court, however, permitted the Centre to go ahead with the paperwork of the project and the foundation stone laying ceremony on December 10. The Centre, via Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, assured the Supreme Court that there would be no construction or demolition in the Central Vista plan till the time the top court passes an order.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a new Parliament building on Thursday at an event that will be attended by leaders from various political parties, cabinet ministers, and ambassadors of different countries. Some chief ministers and governors will also attend the event virtually. The event will begin at 12:55 pm and the foundation stone will be laid at 1 pm, officials said, adding that a 'Sarva Dharma Prarthana' (inter-faith prayer) will be held at 1.30 pm. The prime minister will deliver his address on the occasion at 2.15 pm. The Central Vista project is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of Rs 971 crore.