Parliament inauguration: Look at sidelights

The new Parliament building inauguration saw a large number of VIPs, diplomats attending the event. Many were seen trying to have a peek view of the new structure, which has not been open to even MPs till now. Here are the sidelights from the event:

- Central Hall will be missing in the new building but there is a grand Constitution Hall that showcases democratic heritage of the country. Instead of the Central hall, a lounge for MPs will be there. Apart from the existing Parliament Library Building, the new building too will house a library besides multiple committee rooms, dining areas. The three main gates have been named Gyan Dwar, Shakti Dwar, and Karma Dwar and VIPs, MPs and visitors have separate entrances.

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- The new Parliament building is constructed with material from across the country. Teakwood is sourced from Nagpur while red and white sandstone comes from Sarmathura in Rajasthan. Kesharia green stone has come from Udaipur and red granite from Lakha in Ajmer while the white marble has been sourced from Ambaji, all in Rajasthan. Steel structures used for false ceilings in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha came from Daman and Diu. The stone lattice work is sourced from Rajnagar in Rajasthan and Noida in UP. Sand or M-sand from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana have been used in the concrete mix. Carpets are from UP.

- There are 1,700 windows and doors in the new building while the corridors run 3.5 km. It took 60,000 workers whose cumulative working hours amounted to 23 lakh working days were engaged in the construction.

- As Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the Parliament House, the MPs assembled in the Lok Sabha chamber started chanting 'Modi, Modi'. There were chants of Bharat Mata ki Jai and Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai as he entered the hall. During his speech also, some MPs chanted 'Modi, Modi'. While leaving after the event, Modi had a word with former President Ram Nath Kovind.

- At the inauguration event inside Lok Sabha hall, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was missing though he was present in the morning hours when Sengol was installed in Parliament. Singh could not attend the event as headed to Nigeria to attend the swearing-in of President Bola Tinubu. Among the other ministers in the Cabinet Committee on Security, only External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar did not get a front row seat. Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman were in the front row while Piyush Goyal too along with Nitin Gadkari were also in the same row. Former President Ram Nath Kovind, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, former Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, BJP chief JP Nadda, veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, Chief Ministers ML Khattar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Neiphiu Rio, Yogi Adityanath, Himanta Biswas Sarma, Bhupesh Patel, Eknath Shinde and YS Jaganmohan Reddy were others who got front row seats.

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- The Rajya Sabha Secretariat can complain about being treated unfairly. Protocol issues prompted Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar not to attend the event. His place was taken by Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who read out President Droupadi Murmu and Dhankhar's messages. While Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh was the master of ceremony and got a front row seat, his Rajya Sabha counterpart PC Modi had to sit in the second row. Before the start of the event, Harivansh was even described as Rajya Sabha Secretary General.

- Union Minister Smriti Irani turned a photographer for YSR Congress MPs at the new Lok Sabha hall as they wanted a picture with their Chief Minister and party leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy. As MPs gathered around Jagan's seat, Irani took pictures from mobile phones. Earlier, she was also seen seeking blessings of former Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who was seated with Murli Manohar Joshi. She was not the lone photographer. Several MPs had a role reversal as everyone wanted to have a picture of the new Lok Sabha.

- Young BJP MP Varun Gandhi came to the event with his mother Maneka Gandhi, also an MP, and was seated together. He too had selfies from inside the Hall and tweeted, “on this historic occasion of the inauguration of our new Parliamentary complex, I cheekily requested the most senior member of the current Lok Sabha for a couple of selfies together.”