CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government seems to be following in the footsteps of the Centre. While construction of a new Parliament building in New Delhi is in full swing, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah requesting to provide ten acres of land for constructing a new assembly building in Chandigarh, a Union Territory.
Confirming this, a senior official said more space would be needed after delimitation in 2026 as the number of MLAs would rise from 90 to 122 while the present building can only accommodate 90 legislators. Also, new systems and technology needs to be incorporated. “Hence, the state government has requested for the land near the existing legislative assembly building,” he said.
Last month, Speaker Gian Chand Gupta had written to CM Khattar to take up this issue with the Centre.
A dispute between Haryana and Punjab has been going on over the present assembly building. The Haryana government complains that it has not got the due share of space as Punjab is in “illegal” occupation over a large part.