"New Parliament building is a 5-star jail": Sanjay Raut attacks Centre

NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut took a dig at the centre and spoke in criticism of the current parliamentary setup while comparing the new parliament building to a "five-star jail" where productivity was severely hampered, he said. While speaking to the media on Thursday, Raut said, "The new Parliament building that has been built is neither fit for work nor fit for sitting. The new parliament is like a five-star jail where you can't work. When we form our government, we will start our parliament session in our historical parliament building (the old parliament)."

The new parliament building was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in May last year. The old Parliament House in India, designed by British architects Sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, is a colonial-era building that underwent six years of construction from 1921 to 1927.

The new Lok Sabha Hall has a capacity of up to 888 seats, and the Rajya Sabha Hall, now enlarged, can accommodate up to 384 members. This expansion enables joint sessions of Parliament to convene with a combined capacity of up to 1,272 seats, fostering a more inclusive assembly during such sessions. Further, launching a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of crossing the 400 mark in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Raut said, "PM Modi should set a target of 600 instead of 400 for the 2024 elections. The '400 mark' is very low."

Raut also slammed Prime Minister Modi over the increasing number of suicide cases concerning farmers and stated that Sharad Pawar was one of the best agriculture ministers India ever had and that it was said so by Prime Minister Modi himself. Earlier this month, Sanjay Raut questioned the central government regarding its resistance against the ongoing farmers' protest on the Delhi borders. Raut said the way farmers are being stopped is not right and hundreds of farmers have been injured till now.