Inauguration of new Parliament begins with havan, sengol, multi-faith prayer service

The Prime Minister also congratulated 11 workers who had contributed to the construction of the new building, including Ram Murmu, a cleaner from Jharkhand; Anil Kumar Yadav, a native of Bihar, who worked on the sandstone walls of the building’s façade; Muzaffar Khan, a mechanic from Jharkhand who repaired machinery at the site; and Anand Vishwakarma, a Varanasi worker who worked on the roofs of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers.

Earlier, the Prime Minister bowed to the sengol, which Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam (Mutt) handed over to Jawaharlal Nehru on the eve of Independence in Tamil Nadu and has been in a museum in Prayagraj ever since. After receiving the scepter from the priests, the prime minister placed it in a glass case behind the Parliament The speaker’s seat Om Birla, with Birla standing next to him. Modi also unveiled a plaque declaring the new building “dedicated to the nation.”

Among those present at the multi-faith prayer were Union Ministers Amit Shah, Hardeep Puri, Rajnath Singh, S. Jaishankar, Anurag Thakur and Ashwini Vaisnawas well as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, Gonna CM Pramod Sawant and Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel.

Later in the afternoon, a groundbreaking ceremony will take place inside the new Lok Sabha chamber, where Modi and Birla are expected to deliver speeches. Lok Sabha Secretariat sources say that all sitting MPs were invited to this event, however 20 opposition parties have decided to boycott the event as the Prime Minister is inaugurating the new Parliament in place of the President.

The new Parliament was built from January 2021 at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore. Designed by HCP Design, Planning and Management Ltd, the triangular building stands next to the heritage Parliament Building which was completed in 1927.