Union Minister Piyush Goyal responds to the scathing attack by Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the new Parliament building.
In a tweet, Surjewala said, “Modi Ji, it will also be recorded in history that when the Annadata was fighting for the rights for 16 days on the streets, you were building a palace for yourself in the name of Central Vista! In a democracy, power is not a means to fulfill the whims, it is a medium for public service and public welfare.”
Responding on the tweet, Piyush Goyal said, “Congress thinks that Parliament house is only for PM Modi. They are confident that now only Modi ji and BJP will continue to serve the country from this Parliament. Crop insurance for farmers, MSP of one and a half times of cost, Kisan Samman Nidhi were the key steps taken by Modi government for welfare of farmers. Congress only made false promises.”
Yesterday, PM Modi launched the new parliament building on the Central Vista.
The Supreme Court had on Monday allowed the government to go ahead with the foundation laying ceremony for the central vista project underlining that no construction or demolition until it disposes of pleas opposing the project.
The government agreed to the conditions put forth by the apex court and the court said the ‘authorities are free to undertake formal process without altering site in question in any manner’.
The bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar had told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, “You can lay the foundation stone, you can carry on paperwork but no construction or demolition, no cutting down any trees.”
The new parliament building is a part of the Rs 20,000-crore Central Vista project, which aims to build and refurbish the government buildings falling on the 13.4-km Rajpath that stretches from the presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan to the iconic war memorial India Gate.
The new Parliament building, the Lok Sabha chamber will have 888 seats and the Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats. The building will be earthquake resistant and will have modern digital technology.
The petitions filed question the project on environment grounds.