Twenty-six years before India gained Independence, Britain's Duke of Connaught laid the foundation stone of Parliament House on February 12, 1921, stating that the House would stand "as the symbol of India's rebirth to yet higher destinies". The halls of the now “Old” Parliament building echoed the historic 'Tryst with Destiny' speech delivered by the first Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on August 15, 1947. Transfer of power at the midnight session of the Constituent Assembly took place at the dawn of independence.