NEW DELHI: Amid the uproar from the Opposition parties over an alleged “no invitation” to the President to inaugurate the new Parliament, 19 parties including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Left, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal-United (JDU), Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction and others have decided to boycott the inaugural ceremony on May 28. They have denounced plans by the PM to inaugrate the new Parliament building instead of the President.
TMC leader Derek O’Brien wrote on Twitter, “Parliament is not just a new building; it is an establishment with old traditions, values, precedents and rules — it is the foundation of Indian democracy. Prime Minister Modi doesn’t get that. For him, Sunday’s inauguration of the new building is all about I, ME, MYSELF. So count us out.”
In chorus Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh also boycott the event on Twitter, calling it an insult to the tribals.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) accused PM Modi of “bypassing” the President for not just laying the foundation stone for the new parliament building, but also inaugurating it himself.
Alleging Modi disrespected constitutional propriety, Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “SUV-Self-Usurped Vishwaguru-has already annexe-d the Parliament for self-aggrandisement. But surely, there is a fundamental difference between inaugurating an Annexe where officials work and a library which is hardly used on the one hand, and inaugurating not just the Temple of Democracy but its sanctum sanctorum itself.”
The inauguration led by Modi will take place inside the new Lok Sabha chamber that can accommodate nearly 900 people. The programme will also showcase the modern facilities of the new building that is likely to start functioning from the monsoon session in July.
The idea of Central Vista- the new Parliament builidng was putforth by the Modi govt which cited lack of space in the British era built Parliament. The foundation stone was laid in December 2020. Work for the fully equiped modern Parliament was hampered by the second wave of coronavirus, will be operational in record time.
As per an official communiqué the present building of the Parliament, has a provision for the sitting of 543 Members in the Lok Sabha while 250 in the Rajya Sabha. Arrangements have been made for a meeting of 888 members in the Lok Sabha while 300 members in the Rajya Sabha. The joint session of both the Houses will be held in Lok Sabha chamber only, and in that case 1,280 MPs will be able to sit there.