Heritage Parl building witness to India story

New Delhi, May 27: The grand old Parliament, witness to the India story as it unfolded since 1927, is set to fade into pages of history as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the new building on Sunday.

From the first steps towards self-rule to the dawn of Independence, and the country’s emergence as a nuclear power and beyond, the grand old Parliament building has been a constant in the country’s journey for almost a century.

The hallowed precincts of Parliament have witnessed lively debates on the making of Constitution, the poignant scenes after the announcement of the death of Mahatma Gandhi and the thumping of desks when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced the unconditional surrender of Pakistan forces in Bangladesh.

The heartfelt speeches of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the calm but firm resolve of Lal Bahadur Shastri, the eloquence of Indira Gandhi, the poetic brilliance of Atal Behari Vajpayee and the powerful oratory of Narendra

Modi have reverberated through the chambers of Parliament.

The foundation stone of the colonnaded building was laid by Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught in 1921, and the building was inaugurated on January 18, 1927. The recently concluded monsoon session of Parliament could perhaps be the last in the old building.

“Today you meet for the first time in your new and permanent home in Delhi,” Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, told the first session of the third legislative assembly on January 24, 1927.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Lala Lajpat Rai, C.S. Ranga Iyer, Madheo Srihari Aney, Vithalbhai Patel among others were the members of the third legislative Assembly.

Through the Government of India Act, 1919, the British had started allowing greater participation of Indians in the government.

Two years later, revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt hurled bombs in the Assembly chamber from the public gallery after the House had passed the controversial Trade Disputes Bill.

Vithalbhai Patel was the then president of the Legislative Assembly, a post which came to be known as the Speaker as parliamentary democracy evolved in the country.

On the eve of Independence, the Constituent Assembly met at 11 pm with President Rajendra Prasad in the Chair. Sucheta Kriplani, a member from Uttar Pradesh, sang the first verse of Vande Mataram to mark the opening of the special session.