Virtual helicopter rides to digital selfies with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are some of the major attractions of the newly opened ‘digital gallery’ at the Vidhan Sabha complex here. It was inaugurated a day before the budget session of the U.P. Assembly on February 19.
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The gallery also contains rare collections of speeches by statesmen like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Purushottam Das Tandon, Acharya Narendra Dev, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Govind Ballabh Pant, Vijay Laxmi Pandit and numerous freedom fighters and politicians who contributed to the legislative history and freedom struggle of India.
‘Democratic values’
The gallery showcases the rich history of the U.P. Legislature, and interventions it made in India’s legislative history since January 1887, when it was established as the North Western Provinces and Oudh Legislative Council in Allahabad with nine nominated members.
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While inaugurating the gallery, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “Depicting the history of the State Legislature would help in strengthening democratic values.”
He took a tour of prominent places associated with India’s freedom movement and the cultural cities of the State in the digital gallery.
Visitors can take a helicopter tour digitally to important places of India’s independence movement and religious centres in U.P. The gallery depicts on digital screen the lengthy discussions that took place in 1902, before the legislature was named the United Provinces of Agra and Awadh and video proceedings of the recent past sessions of the State Legislature.
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When the Government of India Act, 1935, granted autonomy to the States in April 1937, the provincial part of the Government of India Act, 1935, came into operation, converting the unicameral U.P. provincial Legislative Council into a bicameral one with an elected chamber — Legislative Assembly, along with the existing Legislative Council. The State also came to be known as ‘United Provinces’.
The digital gallery also depicts the meeting of the newly created Assembly held on July 29, 1937. It contains speeches given by Govind Ballabh Pant, who headed the first provincial Congress government and comments of Purushottam Das Tandon and Sri Abdul Hakim who were elected the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker respectively on July 31, 1937.
It also shows pictures of the first meeting of the U.P. Legislature held after Independence on November 3, 1947. It also contains the proceedings and speeches made in opposition and favour during two landmark measures taken by the U.P. Legislature after the Independence — the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Bill, 1949 and the U.P. Agricultural Tenants (Acquisition of Privileges) Bill, 1949.