Opposition parties boycotted the foundation stone laying ceremony of the building by Modi in December 2020. (File photo: News18)
Most of the opposition parties are of the view that they should unite and skip the ceremony, but a final decision on the issue will be taken on Wednesday.
Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and CPI will boycott the opening ceremony of the new Parliament in New Delhi on 28 May.
TMC MP Derek O’Brien said that Parliament is not just a new building but it is an establishment with age-old traditions, values, precedents and rules which are the foundation of Indian democracy. However, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not understand this.
Parliament is not just a new building; It is an establishment with age old traditions, values, precedents and rules – it is the foundation of Indian democracy. PM Modi does not understand that for him the inauguration of the new building on Sunday is about me, me, myself. so count us in
– Derek O’Brien | Derek O’Brien (@derekobrienmp) May 23, 2023
AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that his party will boycott the function against the Center for not inviting President Draupadi Murmu as it is an insult to India’s Dalit tribal and deprived society.
“Not inviting President Draupadi Murmu ji to the inauguration ceremony of Parliament House is a gross insult to him. This is an insult to the Dalit tribal and deprived society of India. The Aam Aadmi Party will boycott the inauguration program in protest against Modi ji for not inviting the President.
Not inviting Her Excellency the President Mrs. Draupadi Murmu ji to the inauguration ceremony of the Parliament House is grossly overlooked. @Aam Aadmi Party The outflow of the inaugural event…— Sanjay Singh Aap (@SanjayAzadSln) May 23, 2023
CPI general secretary D Raja also said that his party would not attend the function.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “undermining” the President during the foundation stone laying ceremony and inauguration of the new Parliament building.
He said, “Modi ignored the President when the foundation stone of the new Parliament building was laid. Now even the inauguration. Not worth it. Constitution Art 79: ‘There shall be a Parliament for the Union consisting of the President and the two Houses,’ Yechury said in a said in the tweet.
“It can be achieved only when the President of India summons the Parliament. The President opens the annual, parliamentary business by addressing a joint session.
Every year the first business of Parliament is the ‘Motion of Thanks’ to the President’s Address,” he said in a tweet.
According to PTI sources, most of the opposition parties are of the view that they should unite and skip the ceremony, but a final decision on the issue will be taken on Wednesday.
PM Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament House on May 28 at the invitation of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
On Monday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge objected to President Murmu not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building, saying that Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India, and the President of India is its supreme constitutional authority.
He also alleged, ‘It seems that the Modi government has ensured the election of the President of India from Dalits and tribal communities only for electoral reasons.’
Earlier in the day, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri slammed the Congress for lacking “national spirit and sense of pride” in India’s progress and the opposition party accused it of trying to “indiscriminately and spread confusion”.
Puri said that the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi inaugurated the Parliament Annexe building on October 24, 1975 and the successor Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the Parliament Library on August 15, 1987. Why can’t the head of the government this time do the same? It’s as simple as that,” he said.
Hitting back at Puri, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari alleged that the minister was trying to “vague and confuse”. “Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, I am afraid, is trying to spread ambiguity and confusion. , Libraries and a new Parliament House,” he said in a tweet.
Opposition parties had boycotted the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the building by Modi in December 2020, citing concerns about its timing amid farmer protests, the economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown.
(With PTI inputs)