Homage to the past, vision for the future

PM Modi paid rich tributes to the iconic old Parliament building and led the country in welcoming democracy's new Ground Zero

India has to work on a bigger canvas in the next 25 years and push reforms to cater to the aspirations of 1.4 billion citizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he led lawmakers into Indian democracy's new home and hailed the glory of the old Parliament building, suggesting that it be renamed as Samvidhan Sadan.

Parliamentarians shifted from the iconic colonial-era building, which nurtured Indian democracy for over seven decades and hosted the men and women who drafted the Constitution, to a sprawling new building next door on Tuesday.

In his last speech in the Central Hall of the old Parliament building, Modi said India needed to work bigger during the Amrit Kaal, the period leading up to the centenary of India's independer "Can we make large pictures on a small canvas? If we can't widen the scope of our thoughts, we won't be able to draw the picture of the new India. India has to work on a bigger canvas in the Amrit Kaal of the next 25 years. We have to first complete the mission of making an Atmanirbhar Bharat," Modi said, referring to his flagship programme of self-reliance.