The conference is being held at the historic Central Hall located in the old Parliament house.
The Central Hall is irrevocably linked to the freedom struggle as it was from here that India’s first PM had delivered the Tryst with destiny speech, ushering in an independent India on Aug 15,1947. It witnessed the sittings of the imperial Central Assembly during the British rule, the Constituent Assembly sittings also took place in the Central Hall and after Independence in 1947 it remained the centre of political activities for over seven decades.
Attempts to undermine importance of this iconic building in the last 12 years could not succeed as the new parliament building does not impress MPs,officials and even visitors.The fact is that there has not been any suitable hall in the new parliament building which is being projected as a jewel of the world’s largest democracy by Narendra Modi.
One can understan why the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP dislikes Nehru and his Idea of India but the question remains relevant as why the Sangh Parivar could not produce leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and convince the world of their Idea of India.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum would bring together presiding officers and also include bilateral and multilateral interactions.The theme of the forum is ” strengthening parliamements for People-Centric Development” focusing on resilience, innovation,Cooperation and sustainability, he said.The discussions would also include the use of AI in Parliament.
Meanwhile,the suspense over calling a special session of parliament continues with the Speaker refusing to give any hint on it at a time when the government’s floor managers are working on managing numbers for the passage of the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies and the women reservation bill. The mansoon session of parliament continues technically as the Lok Sabha has not been prorouged yet after adjourning sine die.
A Delhi based Senior Journalist and Political Commentator.
