Kapil Sibal's dig at Modi's claim: bricks and mortar will not make his "new India".

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Monday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks at the new Parliament building inauguration.

Modi on Sunday described the inauguration of the new Parliament building as an "immortalised" moment in the country's development journey, asserting that it will mark the dawn of a self-reliant and developed India which will also inspire the progress of other nations.

But Kapil Sibal virtually negated Modi's dictum about the parliament's new structure symbolising a grand moment in development, and said freedom of thought with the aspirational underpinnings of 1.4 billion minds and not bricks and mortar will make his "new India".

In a speech delivered from the grand Lok Sabha hall, Modi said the new Parliament building reflected the aspirations and resolve of the "new India" to set and work towards achieving greater heights.

But Sibal in a tweet cited the prime minister's remarks at the inauguration during which he invoked the new India. "Not brick and mortar but freedom of thought with the aspirational underpinnings of 1.4 b minds, where ideas flourish, colours splash. Not: Saffron, Fractious, Intolerant, will make my new India," the former Union minister said.

Sibal, who was a Union minister during the UPA 1 and UPA 2 governments, quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support. He recently floated the non-electoral platform 'Insaaf', aimed at fighting injustice.

(Inputs from PTI)