New Delhi: The inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament building will begin with an early morning havan and a multi-religion prayer on Sunday, which will be followed by a formal opening by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha Chamber. According to sources, the ceremony is likely to be held in a pandal (canopy) near the Gandhi statue in Parliament.
After the morning ceremony, the sacred 'Sengol' will be installed in the Lok Sabha chamber, next to the Speaker's chair in the presence of priests from Tamil Nadu and the original jeweller who designed the 'Sengol'. The morning ceremony is likely to end at around 9:30 am on Sunday. The second leg of the ceremony is expected to begin at noon.
Deputy Rajya Sabha Chairman, Hariwansh will deliver a speech and will also read a written congratulatory message on behalf of Rajya Sabha, Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankar. A written message by President Droupadi Murmu will also be read out on the occasion. Two short films showing the process of construction of the new Parliament building and its significance will also be screened during the second phase of the ceremony.
Lok Sabha Speaker, who is the custodian of the Parliament will also deliver a speech during this ceremony. A slot has also been kept for the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha to make his speech on the occasion. However, the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge is unlikely to attend the ceremony on Sunday after the Congress party along with a host of opposition parties announced the boycott of the inauguration ceremony.
The Prime Minister will also release a coin and a stamp on the historic occasion followed by his speech. The Secretary-General Lok Sabha will deliver the Vote of Thanks to mark the closing of the ceremony.
Amid the boycott call by the opposition, the Centre has received a confirmed list of 25 political parties, including some which are not a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), that will participate in the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament building on May 28. Several parties in the NDA including AIADMK, Apna Dal, the Republican Party of India, the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, NPP, and NPF have confirmed their attendance for the function on Sunday.
Several neutral parties, including Biju Janata Dal, TDP, and YSRCP will also be present at the inauguration ceremony. Amongst the opposition parties, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) and Janata Dal-Secular will also attend the function on Sunday. This comes after 19 opposition parties including Congress put out a joint statement announcing a boycott of the Parliament building inauguration.
Invitations for the inauguration of the new parliament building have been sent both physically as well as through e-invitation. Apart from sitting members of Parliament of both houses, invitations have also been extended to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil, Congress president and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and leaders of opposition parties.
Invitations to Secretaries of all ministries of the government of India have also been sent. The chief architect of the new parliament building, Bimal Patel and reputed industrialist Ratan Tata whose company TATA has constructed the new building have also been invited to the inauguration of the new building.
The new Parliament building symbolises the spirit of self-reliant India (Aatmanirbhar Bharat) and maintains the government. The existing building served as independent India's first Parliament and witnessed the adoption of the Constitution. The present building of the Parliament is now going to be almost 100 years old. In 2006, the Parliament Museum was added to showcase the 2,500 years of rich democratic heritage of India.
In both Houses, there was also a lack of convenient arrangements for the sitting of the MPs which was affecting the efficiency of the work of the Members. Considering the above, both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed resolutions urging the government to construct a new building for the Parliament.
On 10 December 2020, the foundation stone of the new building of Parliament was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The newly constructed building of Parliament, which will work to further enrich India's glorious democratic traditions and constitutional values, is also equipped with state-of-the-art facilities which will help the Members to perform their functions in a better way.
The new Parliament building will enable 888 members to sit in the Lok Sabha. Keeping in view the future requirements, arrangements have been made for a meeting of 888 members in the Lok Sabha and 384 members in the Rajya Sabha in the newly constructed building of the Parliament. The joint session of both Houses will now be held in the Lok Sabha Chamber.
