In speech of conciliation, PM Modi lauds Nehru

Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened a special session of Parliament on Monday with an emotive speech, for the last time from the old Parliament house, in which he paid rich tributes to the country’s democratic traditions and recalled contributions of all former prime ministers—Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Manmohan Singh—and said the colonial-era premises will remain a “source of inspiration" and “place of pilgrimage" for all time to come.

Future proceedings of Parliament will commence from a modern building complex next to the old one, which Modi inaugurated in May this year. It is the centrepiece of a grand project to remake a key British-era building with a distinct Indian character in the heart of the national capital.

“We have undertaken a journey of 75 years, and as we bid goodbye to this Parliament house, we must remember that though this House was built by the colonial government, it was built by our sweat and toil, by our countrymen and with our money," Modi said.

In a surprise announcement on 1 September, the Modi government called a special session from 18 September to 22 September, with five sittings, offering no specific reason.