Sansad Bhawan

Parliament House (ISO: ''Saṁsada Bhavana'') in New Delhi is the seat of the Parliament of India. It houses the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, which are lower and upper houses respectively in India's bicameral parliament. It is located on Rafi Marg in Central Vista, the central administrative area in New Delhi. It is located to the east of the Old Parliament House, amongst the other administrative buildings of the Indian government.

The Old Parliament House was constructed in 1927. Proposals for a new parliament building to replace the old one emerged in the early 2010s due to the ageing of the old building. In 2019, the proposal to construct a new parliament building was unveiled by the Government of India as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project. It was inaugurated on 28 May 2023 by then Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. The new building was first used for official business on 19 September 2023 during a special session of the parliament.

Background

The Old Parliament House was a sandstone building opened in January 1927 and was designed by the British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. Proposal for a new parliament building to replace the existing complex emerged in the 2010s due to ageing of the old building and space constraints. A committee to suggest alternatives to the current building was set up by the then speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar in 2012.

Planning and construction

In 2019, the Indian government launched the Central Vista Redevelopment Project, which aimed at redeveloping the area around the Central Vista, the major administrative area in New Delhi. The project included a plan to construct a new parliament building at plot number 118 of the Parliament Estate in Rafi Marg. The new building was designed by architect Bimal Patel for the firm HCP Design, Planning and Management. The construction contract was awarded by the Central Public Works Department to Tata Projects. Tata Projects bid the lowest at , ahead of Larsen and Toubro, who had bid .

The groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held in October 2020. On 7 December 2020, the Central Vista Redevelopment Project was put on hold by a bench of the Supreme Court of India led by A. M. Khanwilkar until the resolution of pleas received against the project in the court. However, the court allowed the foundation laying ceremony to go ahead as planned on 10 December 2020. The foundation stone was laid by then prime minister Narendra Modi on 10 December 2020 in a ceremony that included an interfaith prayer service performed by leaders from various religions. The project was cleared in a majority judgment of the Supreme Court in January 2021, with riders for environmental concerns.

The construction of the building commenced in January 2021. The construction involved sourcing materials from various parts of the country. The red and white sandstone, greenstone, and red granite were procured from Rajasthan, the teak wood from Maharashtra, and the carpets from Uttar Pradesh. On 11 July 2022, a statue of the country's national emblem was unveiled on the top of the new building. The main structure of the building was completed in August 2022. The construction of the entire project was completed on 20 May 2023.

Design

The new building is triangular in shape and is situated besides the old building. Spread across an area of , the new building has four floors. The building has a built up area of with an open-sky area of , and split into three sections. The building is designed to have a lifespan of more than 150 years. The building is designed to be of the same height as the old building and was built to be earthquake resistant.

The Parliament House has three gates named '' Gyan Dwar'' (knowledge gate), ''Shakti Dwar'' (power gate), and ''Karma Dwar'' (karma gate). The building has six entrances named after the mythological creatures–gaja, ashva, garuda, makara, shardula, and hamsa, whose statues stand guard on both sides of the respective entrances. The national flag is hoisted at the gaja dwar, and the makara dwar opens up to the old parliament building. A large high cast sculpture of the Indian national emblem, weighing , is placed on top of the building.

The three sections of the building has been constructed on the themes based on the national symbols– banyan tree, peacock and lotus. The complex has separate chambers for the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the two houses of India's bicameral legislature. The Lok Sabha chamber is designed on a blue-green theme based a peacock and has a seating capacity for 888 members. The Rajya Sabha chamber is designed in a red theme based on a lotus and has a seating capacity for 384 members. The Lok Sabha chamber can be expanded to house 1,272 members in case of a joint session of the parliament. A sculpture of the Ashok Chakra is placed above the speaker's seat in both the chambers. The Sengol, a silver and gold plated long sceptre adorned by the image of a Nandi, is placed besides the seat of the speaker in the Lok Sabha chamber.

The building also hosts a central Grand Constitution Hall, and a banyan tree in the open sky area. There are separate offices for the members, a library, and a lounge in the complex. The crafts gallery (''Shilp Deergha'') was conceptualised with eight themes: ''parv'' (festival), ''swabalamban'' (self-reliance), ''prakriti'' (nature), ''ullas'' (joy), gyan (wisdom), ''samrasta'' (harmony), astha (faith), and yatra (journey). It consists of about 255 crafts sourced from around 400 artisans from across the country. There are statues of leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, and Chanakya in the premises of the new building. A foucault pendulum, created by the National Council of Science Museums, is suspended from the ceiling of the central foyer and measures in height 22 meters and weighs .

Inauguration

On 28 May 2023, then Indian prime minister Modi officially opened the new parliament building. The prime minister unveiling a plaque dedicating the building to the nation and addressed a gathering of lawmakers. As part of the inauguration ceremony, a homam was conducted, followed by an all-religious prayer performed by leaders from various religious faiths. The Sengol was installed following the Tamil Hindu tradition after being handed over by the Adheenams (Shaivite priests) the prime minister Modi.

The opposition parties largely abstained from the event. They expressed concern that the president, the head of state and highest constitutional authority, was sidelined from the event. They also accused the government of passing controversial legislation without adequate debate and criticized the "disqualification, suspension, and muting" of opposition lawmakers. Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress, accused the prime minister of treating the ceremony like a coronation, and emphasized the need for parliamentary proceedings to remain focused on representing the people rather than showcasing personal grandeur. Despite the boycott and criticism led by the opposition, more than 300 members of parliament attended the inauguration.

On 19 September 2023, the first house proceedings at the new building commenced as a part of a special session of the parliament. On the same day, Women's Reservations Bill, 2023 was introduced in the parliament.

Diplomatic row

A mural that depicted a map of undivided India during the Maurya Empire was placed in the new building. On 28 May 2023, India's minister of parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi tweeted a photo of the mural with a caption in Kannada roughly translated to "Resolve is clear – Akhand Bharat".

On 30 May 2023, Nepal's leader of opposition and former prime minister KP Sharma Oli criticised the action stating that "If a country like India that sees itself as an ancient and strong country and as a model of democracy puts Nepali territories in its map and hangs the map in Parliament, it cannot be called fair". Baburam Bhattarai, chairman of the Nepal Socialist Party, stated that the issue "has the potential of further aggravating the trust deficit already vitiating the bilateral relations between most of the immediate neighbours of India".

On 1 June 2023, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson of Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs, expressed concern stating that "We are appalled by the statements made by some BJP politicians, including a union minister, linking the mural with 'Akhand Bharat'". On 6 June 2023, Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs stated that his government is in the process of seeking clarification from India regarding the map.

The Indian government said that the mural depicted the era of the old Mauryan empire and represented 'people-oriented governance', and had no political motives. Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of India's ministry of external affairs clarified that the mural depicted the Mauryan period in Indian history. On 8 June 2023, India's minister of external affairs S. Jaishankar further said that Pakistan cannot understand it because it does not have the power to understand and added that the neighbouring countries will understand the meaning of the mural.

Incidents

On 13 December 2023, two intruders from the visitor's gallery entered the Lok Sabha chamber and threw smoke bombs. The proceedings of both the houses were adjourned initially before resuming after a while, and the speaker the Lok Sabha Om Birla initiated a probe into the incident. Members of parliament questioned this major security lapse. Four people were arrested including two people inside the building, for the attack. As a result of the incident, visitor rules were changed to include mandatory verifications.

References

{{Parliament of India

Parliament of India
Buildings and structures in New Delhi
Government buildings in India
Seats of national legislatures
2023 establishments in India
Government buildings completed in 2023