New Delhi, May 28: “History will record we attended the session in two Parliament Houses” was the instant emotional response of Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh while walking up the stairs of the new Parliament building on Sunday.
Replying to the queries of a group of media persons while making his maiden entry into the new Parliament House to attend the inaugural session by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Minister said, “We the members of the 17th Lok Sabha are blessed with the unique opportunity of being the only batch of MPs who spent a part of the five-year Parliamentary term in the old Parliament building and will now be spending the rest of the five-year Parliamentary term in the new building.”
He said that right from the day independent India adopted the Westminster pattern of parliament based on the Lower House and Upper House, this rare chance was not destined to happen ever in the past and is unlikely to happen for over a century in the future. “It is a record in itself,” he added.
“It is absolutely a historic moment, which happens but rarely in the life of someone,” Dr Singh said and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making this moment happen. “While Modi has made this moment happen, Almighty has blessed us to live this moment,” he said.
Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vision, determination and aptitude to work with perfection and timeline”, Dr Jitendra said, “Analysts and commentators would definitely be called to explain why none of the Prime Ministers in the past could visualise and plan the new Parliament building project even though there was a consistent demand for it.”
He described the new Parliament building as “the most modern state-of-the-art piece of architecture, simultaneously also blending the traditional India ethos and cultural richness”. “In the times to come, visitors from across the world would come to India to have a look at this marvel of creation just as in the past they came looking for the Taj Mahal. This is indeed the grand monument of Modi’s New India,” he said.
