Tharoor calls new Parliament building ‘soulless conference centre’, lacking in intimacy

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday (August 20, 2026) described the new Parliament building as a “soulless conference centre”, saying that its lack of coziness and distancing mirrors the polarisation of our politics.

Speaking at the launch of journalist and author Sobhana K Nair’s new book, ‘Housing the Republic: A Biography of the Indian Parliament’, Mr. Tharoor claimed there has been a “certain desire to leave a physical imprint on the national capital”, but argued that not all changes are necessary.

“The new Parliament really does come across as a kind of soulless conference centre, and there are various reasons for it… They’ve got this enormously high ceiling, which completely destroys any possibility of intimacy. There was a coziness to the old chambers which encouraged conversation and exchange. Whereas there is a distancing in the layout, sort of fan-like layout.

“There is a sort of distancing, which almost seems to be a metaphor for the polarisation of our politics. That has also accompanied this transformation,” said the four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023, the new parliament building is part of the government’s ambitious Central Vista complex, envisioned to replace colonial-era government buildings.

Built in front of the old parliament, the new four-storey building has expanded seating capacity and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

The 70-year-old MP criticised the new building’s design for diminished the informal interactions and cross-party camaraderie that once defined Parliament, particularly with the absence of a central hall.

“The soullessness of the place, the lack of intimacy, the lack of encouragement of conversation, the absence of a Central Hall where informal exchanges could take place between current, former MPs, observers, and even the old days media, all of these factors speak both to a lack of collegiality and conviviality across party lines, which is a defining feature of our times in Parliament,” he said.

The Congress leader sounded a sharp warning over the proposed expansion of the Lok Sabha to 850 members, arguing that though they have the “physical room” for it in the Lower House, the move will take away any “spirit of meaningful parliamentary discussion and deliberation.” In a pointed comparison, he said MPs could be reduced to “a whole bunch of strangers” who would “ritually, like the Chinese People’s Consultative Congress, be thumping their tables in uniform applause when the great leader makes announcements.” “If that is the intention, then that is really no longer what we’ve all understood by the purpose of a Parliament,” he added.

That said, Mr. Tharoor did give the new Parliament some credit, saying it eliminated the “inconvenience” of the old seating arrangement, where members had to “squeeze together” and literally squeeze past the knees of colleagues to reach the aisle. “That inconvenience has been eliminated.” Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, who was among the panellists, was equally scathing about the new Parliament.

He dismissed its aesthetics outright, saying he doesn’t like “anything of it.” For Mr. Brittas, the bigger concern is what the building represents amid the decline in parliamentary debate.

“Having a new building doesn’t make any sense to the Parliament or Parliament discourse. What is the content, substance of the Parliament? That is much more important,” he said, adding that parliamentary discourse had “plummeted to the lowest.” He also questioned the secrecy surrounding the new building’s cost, contrasting it with the transparency over the old Parliament, originally known as the Council House, which was built during the British Raj.

“Eighty-three lakhs were spent for the Parliament,” Mr. Brittas said.

He said that when he asked about the new building’s actual expenditure, “The response I got? It’s a secret. It cannot be divulged.” Published by Bloomsbury, ‘Housing the Republic’ traces the lived history of India’s iconic Parliament House from its 1919 origins to the creation of the new building in 2023.