The din surrounding the ongoing Central Vista project in New Delhi has risen and subsided in direct proportion to the covid pandemic curve in India. As India’s vaccination programme gathered momentum and even surpassed expectations, the contrived horror of bulldozers breaking down the iconic Parliament building and uprooting jamun trees on Rajpath yielded way to esoteric objections. The redevelopment of the Central Vista has now been dubbed an assault on ‘memory’ and the Prime Minister charged with not knowing “the difference between Parliament and plumbing." When free India celebrates its 75th year, its capital must have the capacity to awe. Swapan Dasgupta is a Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Rajya Sabha(This piece is part of a Mint Debate on the Central Vista.

Source: Mint July 01, 2021 16:28 UTC