New Parliament building and the many controversies surrounding the structure

The new Parliament building is set to be inaugurated on Sunday, but the event has already been engulfed in controversy. While the BJP, has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the four-storey building to symbolise the spirit of a self-reliant India, the Congress and Opposition have argued for President Droupadi Mourmu to open the building and announced a boycott. But this isn’t the first time the new Parliament building has been involved in controversy. Let’s take a closer look: Construction during COVID-19 Modi had in December 2020 laid the foundation for the new Parliament building – nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic. The government had during the lockdown brought the construction work for the ambitious project under the ambit of “essential services” to ensure smooth movement of labourers. The Opposition Congress among other political parties criticised the work in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, in May 2021, a plea was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking the suspension of construction activity in Central Vista – the power corridor of the country – to protect the lives of the workers. [caption id=“attachment_11856591” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The Delhi High Court dismissed the petition. ANI[/caption] The court, describing the work, as a “vital” and “essential” project of national importance, dismissed the plea.

It further imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioners.

The petitioners then filed a case in the Supreme Court. In June 2021, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra, allaying any concerns, said over 50 per cent of the workers engaged in the construction of the new parliament building have been vaccinated against COVID-19. “On-site 2,180 and off-site workers are contributing with excitement and enthusiasm. Over 50 per cent (workers) are vaccinated and Covid appropriate behaviour is being observed strictly. Environment sensitive measures like dust control, pollution mitigation, sound barrier etc are being fully observed,” Mishra tweeted. The Supreme Court in June 2021 dismissed the plea. ”You have been selective about one project. We do not find in your writ petition anything about any other project,” the bench told petitioners, as per The Hindu. Cost of Central Vista project The Central Vista project came in for much criticism over spending a slew of Opposition leaders. The leaders claimed it was a ‘vanity project’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and questioned the need to spend “thousands of crores” on government buildings rather than on vaccine development and distribution or scaling up health infrastructure. [caption id=“attachment_12024812” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Image courtesy: centralvista.gov.in[/caption] Union minister for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri in 2021 rebutted these claims, pointing out that the plan was put together in 2019 – before the outbreak of the pandemic. Lion Statue In July 2022, the unveiling of the four-lion national emblem sitting atop Parliament was mired in controversy. Opposition leaders claimed that the “graceful and regally confident” Ashokan lions were given an “unnecessarily aggressive” appearance. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary tweeted:

@narendramodi Ji, please observe the face of the Lion, whether it is representing the statue of Great #Sarnath or a distorted version of GIR lion. please check it and if it needs, mend the same.

— Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) July 12, 2022

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Jawahar Sircar tweeted:

Insult to our national symbol, the majestic Ashokan Lions. Original is on the left, graceful, regally confident. The one on the right is Modi’s version, put above new Parliament building — snarling, unnecessarily aggressive and disproportionate. Shame! Change it immediately! pic.twitter.com/luXnLVByvP

— Jawhar Sircar (@jawharsircar) July 12, 2022

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan tweeted:

From Gandhi to Godse; From our national emblem with lions sitting majestically & peacefully; to the new national emblem unveiled for the top of the new Parliament building under construction at Central Vista; Angry lions with bared fangs.
This is Modi's new India! pic.twitter.com/cWAduxPlWR

— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) July 12, 2022

Historian S Irfan Habib also joined in the fray. “Meddling with our national emblem was totally unnecessary and avoidable. Why should our lions look ferocious and full of angst? These are Ashoka’s lions adapted by independent India in 1950,” Habib said. But the sculptor Sunil Deore was quoted as saying by CNN it was all a matter of perspective.

“The angle makes a lot of difference.”

“If you check its proportions and the proportions of my lion, it has been enlarged exactly,” he said. “My brief was to create a replica of the (original) sculpture.” Green cover According to India Today, some environmentalists took aim at the Central Vista project as a while for destroying the green cover. As per Outlook, at least 80 per cent of the trees affected by any development works are by law required to be transplanted. The Delhi State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) had initially raised a red flag over the “excessively high proportion” of trees that would be removed. The number of trees to be transplanted was then lowered to 487 from 630 and the number of trees retained was increased from 320 to 154. But Union ministry of housing and urban affairs in a September 2022 statement said that environmental sustainability is at the core of the project. “The projects will result in overall increase in green cover. Trees will be transplanted in Eco-Park being developed by NTPC at Badarpur after due permissions from competent authorities. Steps are being taken to minimise on-site air emissions, noise, wastewater discharge, soil erosion as well as construction waste,” the ministry said, as per Outlook. Its name The new name of the Parliament building has not yet been revealed. But that didn’t stop some from making suggestions. In May 2022, the Delhi unit of the Congress and the Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha (ABKM) chimed in with their own suggestions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress urged the prime minister to name the building after former president APJ Kalam to send a message about “harmony and cohesion”. Meanwhile, the ABKM requested that the building be named after Delhi’s last Hindu emperor Prithviraj Chauhan or the city founderAnangpal Tomar. The ABKM president Mahendra Singh Tanwar wrote, “The Tomar Rajput dynasty of Delhi built several structures in and around Delhi after the city’s establishment in the early eight century. Some of them are still present like the Anangpur Dam and the Surajkund in Faridabad.” He said people still remembered Prithviraj Chauhan and it would be apt to name the new Parliament after either of these two heroes. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.