LUCKNOW, March 9 -- Uttar Pradesh is moving closer to building a new modern legislative complex in the state capital. The state government directed the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) to prepare the design of a proposed new Vidhan Bhavan building and present it to chief minister Yogi Adityanath for approval. The directive, issued on February 4, 2026 by the housing and urban planning department, was communicated through a letter signed by joint secretary Girish Chandra Mishra. It instructed LDA to prepare a detailed design to facilitate expansion and renovation of the existing legislative complex. LDA vice-chairperson Prathamesh Kumar confirmed that the authority has begun preparing the presentation per the government's instructions, setting April 15, 2026, as the deadline. "LDA is preparing a design presentation for the proposed building on the state government's instructions. Once the design receives approval, further steps such as a feasibility study will be carried out by a designated agency," Kumar said. The push for a new complex stems from acute space constraints at the existing Vidhan Bhavan, which houses the state's bicameral legislature. The assembly, with a sanctioned strength of 403 members, accommodates only 379 seats. Additional rows were added to fit 35 more, leaving minimal room for expansion. Similar space issues exist in the Vidhan Parishad wing. The idea of a new Vidhan Sabha complex gained traction after the inauguration of the new Parliament building in 2023. The state government roped in Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning and Management Private Limited, the firm behind the new Parliament's design, to propose sites for the project. A budgetary provision of Rs 50 crore was made in 2023-24, but the plan was delayed because no land had been finalised. Earlier proposals for locations on the city's outskirts were set aside due to their distance from key administrative zones. The proposed site at Sahara Shahar in Gomti Nagar came into focus in October 2025, when the Lucknow Municipal Corporation seized and sealed nearly 130 acres of land there, originally allotted in 1994-95 under a licence deed for residential and commercial development. Constructed in 1928, the existing Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Bhavan remains one of the state's finest examples of Indo-European architecture. Its foundation stone was laid on December 15, 1922, by then-governor Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler, and it was inaugurated on February 21, 1928....