Archive · 9 Oct 2026
A Biography Traces Parliament House’s Changing Relationship With India
Sobhana K. Nair’s book tells the story of the old Parliament building in India.
It began as a building for British rulers and was opened in 1927.
In 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt used it to protest British rule.
After India became independent, the building hosted important events and meetings.
The first elected Parliament met there in 1952.
The book also describes arguments, protests, and changes inside and around the building.
Nair says Parliament once seemed to belong closely to the people.
Over time, the building came to feel more protected from them.
Sobhana K. Nair’s book follows the old Parliament building from its origins as the Council House to its role in independent India.
The building was formally inaugurated in January 1927 by Viceroy Irwin.
In April 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt exploded a bomb in the building’s galleries and called for revolution.
The book describes landmark events there, including the Constituent Assembly’s 1947 Independence gathering and the first elected Parliament’s 1952 session.
Nair argues that the building’s history reflects a growing distance between Parliament and the public, particularly after the 1966 siege.
- Who
- Author Sobhana K. Nair and the people and institutions involved in the history of the old Parliament building.
- What
- Nair’s book, Housing the Republic: A Biography of the Indian Parliament, traces the building’s history and changing relationship with the public.
- When
- The book covers events from the move of the British Indian capital in 1911 through later parliamentary history.
- Where
- The old Parliament building in New Delhi, now called Samvidhan Sadan.
- Why
- The book explores how the building’s history reflects changes in the relationship between Parliament and the people.
- Book
- Housing the Republic: A Biography of the Indian Parliament
- Author
- Sobhana K. Nair
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury
- Price
- Rs 699
- Building inauguration
- January 1927, as the Council House
- Independence gathering
- Held on the eve of Indian Independence, August 14, 1947
- First elected Parliament
- Convened in the building in 1952
- 1966 event
- A protest over cow slaughter turned violent near Parliament, marking what Nair describes as a turning point.