A building that bore witness to the odyssey of democratic India

In India’s journey as a nation, the circular building gradually came to embody democratic traditions one that few had given a chance at the moment of the country’s birth

- Chakshu Roy

Nostalgia vied for space with politics on Monday as the special session of Parliament opened to bid farewell to the grand colonial building that nurtured a nascent democracy into the formidable behemoth that it is today, safeguarding the drafters of India’s founding document, the Constitution, on its way.

Inside those hallowed chambers, lawmakers gathered one final time for a special discussion on 75 years of our nation’s parliamentary journey. Participating in the debate, Members of Parliament (MPs) reflected on the momentous events in the 97-year-old circular building. Since the discussion was a precursor to the shift to the new triangular structure, they fondly looked back at their association with the iconic edifice.

The circular Parliament House is unique. It was a late addition to the plan for the New Capital of Delhi. The need for the building was born out of the constitutional reforms of 1919 – known also as the Montagu Chelmsford Reforms – that mandated a larger legislative institution and significantly more power to central and provincial legislatures. Inherent in this was the need to accommodate the influx of incoming lawmakers that would create a semblance of self-rule in what was essentially a colony subservient to London.