State Scan: Uttar Pradesh to get new Vidhan Sabha building before 2027

The present Vidhan Sabha building, in heart of Lucknow, is nearly 100 years old. UP legislature is bicameral, with 2 houses comprising 403 members and 100 members, respectively

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the new Parliament building last month, Uttar Pradesh is looking to construct a Vidhan Sabha edifice.

The present Vidhan Sabha building, in the heart of Lucknow, is nearly 100 years old. The UP legislature is bicameral, with two houses — the Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad — comprising 403 members and 100 members, respectively.

Such a large number of legislators, coupled with the need for greater office and parking spaces for them, apart from having to give modern amenities for the members of the houses as well as visitors, has necessitated a new and a befitting “seat of power”.

Besides, the growing pressure of traffic around the Vidhan Sabha precincts, leading to massive traffic jams, especially when the houses are in session, is another major reason to consider shifting the legislative business to a suitable place.

The Yogi Adityanath government 2.0 has made a token provision of Rs 50 crore in the UP Budget 2023-24 for the likely preliminary work related to the proposed Vidhan Sabha of the country’s most populous state.

In the recent UP Budget session, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Satish Mahana (pictured) had announced the country’s largest 

legislature would have a spacious building before the term of the 18th legislative assembly ended in March 2027.

The tentative plan is to even conduct some house proceedings in the new Vidhan Sabha building before the next Assembly polls, expected to take place early 2027.

Now, the Adityanath government, through its designated agencies such as the Public Works Department and Rajkiya Nirman Nigam, will take forward the job.

“Recently I was told the state government is progressing with preliminary due diligence on the project,” Mahana told Business Standard.

The new building is likely to be developed on the outskirts of Lucknow, along the Lucknow-Sultanpur highway, which is fast transforming into a real estate and industrial hub in the region. However, officials are silent on this. According to sources, 160 acres has tentatively been identified near Chak Gajaria Farms.

The state government is expected to hire a consultant to design the building. It would be eco-friendly and earthquake-resistant, and equipped with modern amenities and the security paraphernalia.

The foundation stone of the existing Vidhan Sabha was laid in 1922. The structure took six years to be built and was inaugurated on February 21, 1928. Civil work was done by Calcutta-based firm Martin & Co. A sum of Rs 21 lakh was sanctioned for its construction.

The building is a blend of Awadhi and European architecture. Later, some blocks were added to the main building compound. While the original building had the provision for accommodating the Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly), another block to accommodate Vidhan Parishad (legislative council) members was proposed in 1935, and completed in November 1937.

Although the estimated cost of the proposed new Vidhan Sabha would be known only after a consultant is appointed and a detailed project report is submitted, expenditure is likely to be around Rs 1,000 crore. 

Sample this: The new building of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, work on which began in 2010 and was completed in 2016, entailed Rs 1,300 crore.

In fact, a much smaller project of constructing the new premises of the UP secretariat, ‘Lok Bhawan’, cost the exchequer Rs 650 crore. It was inaugurated by Akhilesh Yadav as chief minister in 2016 although the bulk of the civil work remained to be completed. Interestingly, the buzz around the new Vidhan Sabha had started during the previous Yogi Adityanath government. 

Talking to Business Standard, former Vidhan Sabha speaker Hridya Narain Dikshit, who officiated during the previous Adityanath regime (2017-22), said Yogi Adityanath had envisioned the new Vidhan Sabha building.

“The current Vidhan Sabha is stretched to capacity. Moreover, the delimitation exercise would increase the number of legislators,” he noted.