Now, old Parliament building will be called as ‘Samvidhan Sadan’, says PM Modi

(Update, 1:10 pm): Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking at the event held in the Central Hall of the old parliament before the shift of both houses to the new parliament suggested renaming the old building.  He said the dignity of the building where Parliament sessions have been held for the last 75 years should not go down by simply referring to it as the old building and hence suggested the name ‘Samvidhan Sadan’ for the old building.

The Prime Minister said, referring to the building as ‘Samvidhan Sadan’ would be a tribute to the leaders who made history in Parliament. “We should not let go of the opportunity to give this present to the future generations,” he added.

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others leave from the Central Hall of the Old Parliament building.

PM Modi made a suggestion that the building should now be known as 'Samvidhan Sadan'. pic.twitter.com/KlTNB3C2Et

— ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023

‘Parliament House of India’: new building to see its first session today

The new parliament building will see its first session on today, September 19 as the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet in the new building at 1:15 PM and 2:15 PM respectively. The government had issued a special parliament session from September 18 to 22 which began from Monday, September 18.

The special parliament session “Amrit Kaal” began its first day of sitting on Monday, which marked 75 years of the parliamentary journey right from the forming of the Constituent Assembly. Eight bills are listed for this current ongoing session. Moreover, a Gazette notification has stated that the new Parliament building will be designated as the Parliament House of India from now on.

New building of Parliament to be hereon designated as the Parliament House of India, Gazette notification issued. pic.twitter.com/AmV5InWCdG

— ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023

Function at old parliament building, what’s in store?

The sitting will shift to the new parliament building after a function in the central hall of the current building. Moreover, Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will lead a function in the Central Hall of Parliament.

• According to media reports the function is said to be for nearly one and a half hours which will start and end with the national anthem which would be followed by a lunch.
• After the end of the function, all the MPs will be led to the new parliament building. Prior to this, at the beginning of the function at the Central Hall three separate group photographs of the leaders will also be taken. 
• The group pictures will firstly include a joint photograph of MPs from both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, secondly, pictures of the Rajya Sabha members will be taken, and lastly, the Lok Sabha members will pose for a picture together at the inner courtyard of the old Parliament building.
• Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, JMM leader Shibu Soren and BJP MP Maneka Gandhi have been invited to address the special function in the Central Hall of Parliament as seniormost parliamentarians.

The new parliament building is located on the Kartavya Path, the heart of Delhi, and was opened by PM Modi. The new building has a seating capacity of 888 members in the Lok Sabha chamber and 300 in the Rajya Sabha chamber.