DailyOh! Nadda attacked in Bengal, to how Parliament building drove a wedge between its architects

India’s parliamentarians will soon be housed in a new Parliament building that will cost India Rs 9,71,00,00,000. The building that exists can house parliamentarians but can’t house their offices and staff. The government says with offices and staff by their side to serve them, MPs will be able to serve the country better.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the construction of the new building will see the construction of Aatmanirbhar Bharat because unlike the old building, the new one is being built by Indians only.

The Lok Sabha has a strength of 543 members and Rajya Sabha 245. The new building, however, will have a seating capacity for 888 members in the Lok Sabha, with an option to increase to 1,224 members during Joint Sessions. The Rajya Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 384 members. The government says it has got its eyes on the future. But the opposition has said the present needs demand the government doesn’t spend so much money on a new building.

The new building has not created a new divide. The divide between the government and opposition is as old as government and opposition are. But the existing Parliament building which is about 100 years old created a new divide between the two friends who built it - Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker.

It so happened that Lutyens got the contract to design the new capital. Sir Thomas Holderness, permanent secretary at the India Office, asked him to share the project with Baker. This needed no coercion because Lutyens and Baker were old friends. And old is gold, we have been told. What we haven’t been told is that gold prices can crash.

As per the contract, Lutyens would design the Government House (later called the Viceroy’s House) and the overall layout of the city and Baker would design the twin secretariat buildings.

Both believed that Indian architecture wasn’t worth it. That is, perhaps, the only thing they agreed upon. The most open difference they had was over the council house (now Parliament house). It was originally meant to be located within the Viceroy’s House. The Montagu-Chelmsford reforms however created the need for a new building.

Baker’s plan was to have an equilateral triangle with three sides housing the three chambers – the Council of State (Rajya Sabha), the legislative assembly (Lok Sabha) and the Chamber of Princes – linked to a central imposing dome. Lutyens, however, insisted on a ‘circular Colosseum design’. Later, Baker admitted to being ‘declared out’ and reduced the grandeur scale and proportions of the building.

That was just the beginning of many more differences the two came to have over designs. Is it any wonder that Parliament is always so divided over everything?

Coming back from the old to the new, while the foundation has been laid, a Supreme Court order is awaited to start construction because the plan is to have the project completed by 2022.

We are in 2020 and so we want to tell you the most mispronounced words of 2020 because the year is coming to an end and year-ends are stock-taking points. Kamala Harris, the US Vice-President-Elect, and Anthony Fauci, US infectious disease expert, found the world struggling to get their names right. If you have a name that is mispronounced often, you know the pain.

Chinese airline crew would soon know discomfort with Chinese aviation regulator recommending the crew to wear diapers on risky Covid flights. The diaper has been classified as personal protective equipment.

At discomfort, unfortunately, could be Indian farmers protesting in and around Delhi with the weatherman saying there could be rain over the next two days – Friday and Saturday. The farmers, you know, have vowed to intensify their protests because talks with government have reached a deadlock.

Every lock has a key - even the dead one. But when dealing with a deadlock, the task of finding the key is a tad bit difficult. The last option for you is to break the lock.

Deadlock, the Word Of The Day, is defined by Oxford dictionary as ‘a complete failure to reach agreement or settle an argument’. Now, there is no such thing as a complete failure. Also, no such thing as a deadlock because locks don’t die. Humans, animals and plants do. Locks, at max, can rust. As for the deadlock between the government and farmers, farmers have said there will be no more talks.

For the best quality locks that don’t rust, your destination is Aligarh. To break deadlocks, your destination is the negotiating table. Before you reach the negotiating table, you got to harden your stand to get the best bargain.

Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta have got a baby boy. India has got the next generation of Ambanis.

You may not consider that to be a reason to celebrate for yourself but you need no reason to treat yourself to Honey-Cinnamon Pancakes. As an added incentive to go the Honey-Cinnamon Pancake way, we can share the recipe as the road to that way.

What came in the way of BJP President JP Nadda and BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s convoy were stones allegedly from TMC workers on Day 2 of Nadda’s two-day visit to West Bengal. 

The BJP has said it will fight back TMC harder in the wake of the event. Attacks didn't just happen in Bengal; in Delhi, the AAP claimed the house of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was "attacked by BJP goons". The Delhi BJP said no such thing happened in Delhi.

I strongly condemn the systematic, organised and violent attack on Dy CM Sh Manish Sisodia’s home. The goons entered his house in police presence when he was away. Why is BJP getting so desperate by the day in Delhi?

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 10, 2020

The West Bengal BJP, menwhile, claimed the West Bengal attack was real.

Nadda and Vijayvargiya were on their way to Diamond Harbour when the attack happened. CM Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, touted as Mamata’s heir, is the Lok Sabha MP from Diamond Harbour.

We will know who emerges on top of the West Bengal war when the elections are held and results announced, but Virat Kohli has emerged as the top ranked One-Day International batsman. The Number 2 slot has also been bagged by an Indian – Rohit Sharma.

We will leave you with that for today but will be back tomorrow.

Stay safe.

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Also Read: Election in the offing, Mamata Banerjee on wrong footing