Prime Minister of India symbolically inaugurates vast redevelopment project in central Delhi

Modi, 70, performed Hindu rituals during the officially secular inaugural ceremony of the construction of the new parliament - a building believed to represent the heart of democracy for India's 1,3 billion people .

The new building, much more imposing, will replace the old building which, according to Modi Thursday, "needs respite". Part of the old parliament will be "renovated" and then continue to be used for government business, some parts of the building will be turned into museums and others demolished.

"Today is a historic date. It is an important step in India's democratic journey," Modi said in his inaugural address.

“The old Parliament building is a testament to India's journey from colonial times to an independent nation,” he added, “it is our responsibility to give 75st century India a new parliamentary building ". It is expected to be completed in time for the country's 2022th independence anniversary in XNUMX.

The old parliament built at the beginning of the XNUMXth century by the British architect Edwin Lutyens was the centerpiece of the Raj, the British Empire in India, also comprising the Grand Rajpath Boulevard, the President's residence, the government offices, the national museum and the monument to the dead at the Gateway of India.

According to critics of this vast redevelopment project, the total cost of which would amount to 200 billion rupees ($ 2,7 billion), including $ 130 million for the new parliament, such expenditure would find more utility in the fight against Covid-19 and support for the economy hit hard by the pandemic.

Appeals have been filed with the Supreme Court against the program, and could, if not jeopardize it, at least delay it. For its part, Modi's office argues that this redevelopment "will correspond to the aspirations of a new India".

Tikender Singh Panwar, a member of the opposition and expert in urbanization, considers that this redevelopment is a "great scandal in the making".

"Strangely, for a project of this importance, of this size and of this cost, the details are very sketchy (...)" he commented to AFP, adding that Modi had the effect of '"a fascist leader wanting to leave the imprint of his glory on Delhi".

According to political commentator Arati Jerath, "This money could have been well spent to support and restore the economy (and) to create jobs, but instead it is spent to make a man's grand dreams come true and to do so. what a new India should look like ".

The inauguration took place as tens of thousands of farmers angry at agricultural reforms block access to the capital for the second week in a row, posing a major challenge to Modi's authority and his reform agenda.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had expressed its dissatisfaction with the rush of the government to inaugurate the project before being able to consider the appeals. However, she authorized further administrative procedures, including Thursday's ceremony, but no construction is due to start until her decision.