BJD to attend new Parliament inauguration ceremony

“Our party president Naveen Patnaik has taken this decision that BJD will attend the inaugural function of the new building of the Parliament,” Pattnaik stated.

All current members of both houses of Parliament, as well as ministers, secretaries, chief ministers, and administrators of Union territories, have been invited by the Centre. 

The chief architect of the new parliament building, Bimal Patel and reputed industrialist Ratan Tata whose company TATA has constructed the new building have also been invited to the inauguration of the new building.

The BSP, Shiromani Akali Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), YSR Congress, BJD and TDP are the seven non-NDA parties expected to be present at the event.

The presence of these seven parties, which together account for 50 MPs in the Lok Sabha, will be a major relief for the BJP-led NDA. Their participation will help the NDA blunt the Opposition’s charge that it is all a government event.

However, as many as 20 parties including Congress, CPI, AAP, and Trinamool Congress have announced that they would boycott the event. They have also protested the decision that PM Modi will inaugurate the building, claiming this was an insult to the highest constitutional office of the President of India.

In a joint statement, Opposition parties said, “The inauguration of a new Parliament building is a momentous occasion. Despite our belief that the government is threatening democracy, and our disapproval of the autocratic manner in which the new Parliament was built, we were open to sinking our differences and marking this occasion.”

“However, Prime Minister Modi’s decision to inaugurate the new Parliament building by himself, completely sidelining President Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response,” the statement further read. 

Updated: 26 May 2023, 01:28 PM IST