Shashi Tharoor’s big statement on the new Parliament House: Called it a ‘lifeless conference centre’, also expressed concern over the lack of Central Hall.

Since the inauguration of the new Parliament building, there have been continuous discussions regarding its functioning, structure and interior. In this series, senior Congress leader and MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor has given a sharp reaction on the design of the new Parliament building and the working environment there. He termed the new Parliament House as a ‘Lifeless Conference Centre’ and said that it lacks the atmosphere of intimacy and informal interaction like the old Parliament House.

Distant seating arrangement and changing political environment

Journalist and writer Shobhana K. Speaking at the launch of Nair’s new book ‘Housing the Republic: A Biography of the Indian Parliament’, Shashi Tharoor said that the high ceilings of the new building and the ‘fan-shaped’ seating arrangement of MPs increases the distance between members. According to him, these distances also reflect the increasing polarization of today’s Indian politics.

Reminiscing about the old Parliament House, he said that there was a special intimacy and warmth in the chambers there, which promoted easy communication and ideological exchange among the MPs. This architectural familiarity is not visible in the new building.

Concern expressed over lack of central hall

Four-time MP Shashi Tharoor described the lack of the old historical ‘Central Hall’ in the new Parliament House as the biggest disadvantage. He said the old Central Hall was the place where sitting MPs, former MPs, senior journalists and political observers from the ruling party and the opposition met informally without any restrictions. Such dialogue would have reduced mutual bitterness between political parties and strengthened cordial relations, but the scope of such informal dialogue has been significantly limited in the new campus.

Concern raised over increase in number of MPs

Tharoor also expressed concern over possible delimitation in the coming time and the proposal to increase the number of Lok Sabha members to 850. He said that even though there would be enough seating space in the new building, such a large number of MPs would make them strangers to each other. Citing the example of China’s Parliament, he said that if the work of the Parliament would only be to thump the table together on the announcements of the leaders without any meaningful debate, then it would be completely contrary to the basic objectives of democracy and Parliament.