Nostalgia, hope grip MPs as they leave old House for new

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, September 19

Lawmakers led by PM Narendra Modi were overcome with both emotion and anticipation as they bid farewell to the old Parliament and made a transition to the new Building on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi on Tuesday.

Hope and nostalgia emerged as twin flavours of the day as senior-most MP Maneka Gandhi, Congress LS leader Adhir Chowdhury, Leader of RS Piyush Goyal, Leader of Opposition in RS Mallikarjun Kharge, Speaker Om Birla, PM Modi and VP Jagdeep Dhankhar (in that order) spoke in the Central Hall at an event to commemorate the last day in the old building which was named Samvidhan Sadan on the suggestion of the PM.

Modi personally described the audieu saying, “The atmosphere today was marked with nostalgia and hope. The Parliament overwhelms and inspires us at the same time. No one should remember it as an old building. I suggest it be called the Samvidhan Sadan.”

Once the Central Hall event concluded, the PM led BJP MPs to the new House amid loud chants of “Vande Mataram.” Political divides were evident even on a momentous day such as today when all leaders called upon one another to leave bitterness behind. Congress MPs entered the building separately with Adhir Ranjan carrying a copy of the Constitution leading them.