Farewell to old Parliament, praise for Nehru: Modi at special session

NEW DELHI: As the old Parliament building hosted a session one last time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday bid a poignant farewell recalling the country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s iconic “tryst with destiny” speech for continuing to inspire everyone and another predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s “governments may come and go” remark.

Reminiscing the country’s Parliamentary journey of 75 years, Modi at the same time reminded the Lok Sabha about the Emergency as well as the 2008 ‘cash-for-vote’ scam during the first term of the Manmohan Singh government.

As he sang paeans to previous prime ministers including Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao, Modi remembered the journey of India’s democracy and said the last day in the heritage building should be dedicated to the over 7,500 parliamentarians who served there since Independence in 1947.

“It is a very emotional moment to bid farewell to this building. As we leave this building our mind is filled with many emotions and memories,” Modi said, initiating the discussion on “Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha — Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings”.

Modi paid tributes to “every brick” of the old Parliament building and said MPs will enter the new complex with “new hope and confidence”.

The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha will meet again on Tuesday afternoon in the newly constructed Parliament building after they were adjourned following a discussion on the country’s parliamentary journey on the first day of the five-day session.

Parliament will be shifting to the swanky complex on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Outside Parliament, Modi said the session may be short in duration but is big on occasion, and is of “historic decisions”.

He said there is an atmosphere of festivity and enthusiasm, and the country has been filled with renewed self-confidence, and asked parliamentarians to give maximum time to the short session.

There will be a lot of time left for “rona dhona” (whining), he said taking a jibe at the opposition which has been criticising the government over the session, which is unusual for its timing.

In his 52-minute speech, Modi said it was in this Parliament that Pandit Nehru delivered his “tryst with destiny” speech “at the stroke of midnight hour” to mark India’s independence from colonial rule and his words continue to inspire everyone.

“In the same House, Atalji’s words about ‘sarkarein aayegi, jayegi; partiyan banegi, bigdegi; lekin yeh desh rehna chahiye’ (governments may come and go; parties may be formed or disbanded; but this nation has to live on) continue to echo even today.”

Modi also said there were celebrations everywhere when three new states of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were created in 2000 during Vajpayee’s tenure but lamented that Telangana being carved out of Andhra Pradesh led to only bitterness and bloodshed in both the states.

The UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh had in 2013 cleared the formation of Telangana.

In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge used poetry and humour to take a swipe at the government, saying nothing will be accomplished by changing names.

He also recalled how Jawaharlal Nehru’s “inclusive” approach of involving opposition parties had led to the laying of a strong foundation for the Constitution.

Kharge began his speech with a poem in Hindi.

“Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai? Dena hein to yuva ko rozgar do, sab ko berozgar karke kya hota hai? Dil ko thoda bada karke dekho, logon ko marne se kya hota hai? Kuch kar nahi sakte ho, kursi chor do, baat baat mein darane se kya hota hai? “Apni hukumrani par guroor hai, logon ko darane se dhamkane se kya hota hai? Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai? Yahan se wahan jane mein kya aur honewala hai?” he said.

(“If you want to change something, change the situation, what will be accomplished by changing names? If you want to give something, give employment to youngsters, what will be accomplished by making everyone unemployed? Try becoming more magnanimous, what will be accomplished by killing people? If you cannot do anything, leave the chair, what will be accomplished by scaring people?”).

In the Lok Sabha, Modi recalled the bravery of Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt who hurled bombs in the same Parliament building to wake up the British empire from its slumber.

“The echo of that bomb still gives sleepless nights to those who wish well for this country,” he said.