Prime Minister Narendra Modi uses the occasion to spell out his vision of India as a developed nation by 2047. But the Opposition doubts his intention. The season of mistrust and bickering will continue in the new building Parliament
Our Bureau
New Delhi
The five-day special session of the Parliament began at 11 am on Monday. The session was held in the old Parliament building, with the MPs all set to move into the new building on Tuesday, the second day of the special session. Earlier in the day, while addressing media persons outside Parliament, PM Modi said that several important decisions will be taken during this special session of Parliament. The Prime Minister called on MPs to pledge to work towards making India a developed country by 2047.
Later, Modi recalled the significant historical moments that took place in the old Parliament building over the last 75 years. Addressing a special five-day session of Parliament that began here on Monday the Prime Minister initiated the discussion in the lower house on the ‘Parliamentary journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha – achievements, experiences, memories and learnings’.
The Prime Minister said it was an “emotional moment” to bid goodbye to the building that served as the Imperial Legislative Council before India’s independence and was recognized as the Parliament of India post-independence. He pointed out that even though the decision to construct this building was made by foreign rulers, it was the hard work, dedication and money spent by Indians that went towards its development.
“We might be shifting to the new building but this building will keep on inspiring the coming generation. As it is a golden chapter of the journey of Indian democracy”, he said.
The PM also spoke about G20 success as an achievement for India. The Prime Minister said that the success of G20 is of 140 crore Indians and not of any particular individual or party. He underlined the success of more than 200 events in more than 60 places in India as a manifestation of the success of India’s diversity.
“India will always feel pride for the inclusion of the African Union in G20 during its presidency,” he said recalling the emotional moment of the inclusion.
In his last speech in the old Parliament building PM Modi said, “It is a matter of pride for all that India has carved a place for itself as ‘Vishwa Mitra’ and the entire world is seeing a friend in India. The reasons for that are our ‘Sanskaars’ that we gathered from Vedas to Vivekanand. The Mantra of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas is uniting us to bring the world with us”
PM Modi also referred to the times of former Prime Ministers from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. “…The echoes of Pandit Nehru’s ‘At the stroke of the midnight…’ in this House will keep inspiring us. In this House itself, Atal ji had said, “Sarkarein aayegi-jaayegi, partiyan banegi-bigdegi, lekin ye desh rehna chahiye. (Governments will come and go. Parties will be made and unmade. This country should survive, its democracy should survive). This echoes even to this day…” PM Modi said.
He also touched upon the contributions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Ram Manohar Lohia, Chandra Shekhar, Lal Krishna Advani and others who have enriched the discussions in the House and emboldened the voice of the common citizens.
The Prime Minister recalled moments of pain when the nation lost three Prime Ministers while still in office- Pandit Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.
Giving a rough estimation, the Prime Minister informed that more than 7500 public representatives have served in both Houses where the number of women representatives is approximately 600. He informed that Indrajit Gupta has served for almost 43 years in this House, and Shafiqur Rahman had served at the age of 93 years. He also mentioned Chandrani Murmu was elected to the House at the age of 25.
“Parliament is where Bhagat Singh and Battukeshwar Dutt had created panic among the British with their valor and courage”, PM said in his speech. Recalling the scepticism during the initial years of the Independence about the viability of the new nation, the Prime Minister said that it is the strength of the Parliament that all the doubts proved wrong.
Recalling the first Council of Ministers, the prime minister remembered how BR Ambedkar included best practices from all over the world. He also mentioned the brilliant water policy made by Babasaheb in the Nehru Cabinet. The Prime Minister mentioned the emphasis of Ambedkar over industrialization for the empowerment of Dalits and how Syama Prasad Mukherjee brought the first Industrial Policy as the first Industry Minister.
The Prime Minister spoke about ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ and shared historic occasions witnessed in the parliament from the Green Revolution to Cash for Votes and historic decisions like OROP, GST and the scrapping of Article 370.
Prime Minister said that the attack on the building was an attack on the Mother of Democracy itself. “It was an attack on the soul of India”, he said. He acknowledged the contributions of those who stood between the terrorists and the House to protect its members and paid tributes to bravehearts who lost their lives in the attack.
In his speech, the Prime Minister said that the shifting of the Parliament to the new building is a “link of the past with the future”.
“Today’s occasion is a moment of pride for the 7500 representatives who have derived inspiration from within the walls of the Parliament”, PM Modi said. The Prime Minister concluded his address by expressing confidence that the members will move to the new building with great zeal and enthusiasm.
But Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has said that they were all a bit confused as to why this special session was called as bills that the government have been talking about could have been introduced later. “We were all a bit confused as to why it was necessary because in many ways, a lot of bills they have been talking about could have been introduced later. But it is now becoming clear, the government wanted to make a special moment out of shifting from one building to another. They have tried to do it in a special way. We can understand the objective there.”
Congress leader KC Venugopal on the first day of the special session of Parliament said that the new Parliament building is not important but the discussion inside it is very important. “The old building is very beautiful, what is the problem in this one? Buildings are not important but the discussion inside them is very important. Parliament is for strengthening democracy and raising the concerns of the poor people of the country. When you talk about building, it will never give results but the discussion will,” he said.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the Modi government in Rajya Sabha on Monday. “Change the way you do your politics, nothing new will happen if we shift to a new Parliament.”
While speaking during the special session of Parliament, the leader of the Opposition said, “Constitutional values earned after much sacrifice and difficulty. I urge the treasury to focus on improving the country’s conditions, show compassion and emphasize the importance of providing employment opportunities.”
Quoting first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Kharge said that the “absence of a strong Opposition means that there are significant drawbacks in the system.”
The building might have changed but the bickering between the ruling alliance and the Opposition will continue in the special session.
