Political spin to Parliament building inauguration as Oppn plans boycott

Nineteen parties, including Congress, Left and TMC say inauguration "undignified", insults the high office of the President; BJD, TDP, YSR Congress, and Bahujan Samaj party to attend

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on Sunday, but the most of the Opposition will be absent, giving the event a political twist, with the Opposition charging the government with violating propriety.

Nineteen Opposition parties, including the Congress, Left and TMC, on Wednesday collectively announced their decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, terming it as an "undignified act" that insults the high office of the president. However, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), YSR Congress (YSRCP), and Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) will attend the ceremony, becoming the only non-NDA parties to attend.  Telangana chief minister Chandrashekar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Sukhbir Singh Badal's Shiromani Akali Dal are yet to decide on the issue. Both parties are opposed to the BJP but neither wants to cast its lot with the opposition. The government has reacted strongly to the boycott decision, with Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri saying all proprieties were observed: “In August 1975, then PM Indira Gandhi inaugurated the Parliament annexe, and later in 1987 PM Rajiv Gandhi inaugurated the Parliament library. If your (Congress) head of government can inaugurate them, why can't our head of government do the same?” he asked.

A joint statement signed by leaders of 19 parties said the inauguration of the Parliament building is a momentous occasion and “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 opposition parties said. The Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, Janata Dal (United), AAP, CPI-M, CPI, SP, NCP, SS (UBT), RJD, IUML, JMM, NC, KC (M), RSP, VCK, MDMK, RLD are the signatories to the joint statement.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also deplored the absence of former Presidents at the foundation laying ceremony. Kharge charged the Modi government with “repeatedly disrespecting propriety” by not inviting the President and former Presidents to the inauguration of the new Parliament building, and accused that the office of the President has been “reduced to tokenism under the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh government“. He added that the government had “ensured election of the President of India from the Dalit and the tribal communities only for electoral reasons.”

Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The Opposition noted that the President is not only the Head of State in India, but also an integral part of Parliament as she summons, prorogues, and addresses Parliament.

"In short, Parliament cannot function without the president. Yet, the prime minister has decided to inaugurate the new Parliament building without her. This undignified act insults the high office of the president, and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution. It undermines the spirit of inclusion which saw the nation celebrate its first woman Adivasi President," the parties said. They added that the new Parliament building was built at great expense during a once-in-a-century pandemic with no consultation with the people of India or MPs, for whom it is apparently being built. What is more, opposition parties say, the inauguration is timed with the birth anniversary of V D Savarkar whose 'mercy petitions' to the British make a mockery of sacrifices of freedom fighters that contributed to India's birth as a republic.

"When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the Parliament, we find no value in a new building. We announce our collective decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building. "We will continue to fight in letter, in spirit, and in substance against this 'authoritarian' prime minister and his government, and take our message directly to the people of India," the opposition parties said in their joint statement.

S N Sahu, former Press Secretary to late President KR Narayanan, says the record must be put straight. He quotes the Lok Sabha Secretariat publication Parliament House Estate, published in 2019, to say that President of India V V Giri laid the foundation of the Parliament House annexe building on August 3, 1970. Five years later, on October 24, 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi inaugurated it.

He also says that in 2002, then President of India K.R. Narayanan was invited by then Lok Sabha Speaker GM Bala Yogi to inaugurate the newly constructed Parliament library building named Sansadiya Gyanpeeth. “Due to pressing engagements, Narayanan could not indicate the date and time for inaugurating it. The Lok Sabha Secretariat preferred to wait for the convenience of the President. On May 7, 2002, President Narayanan inaugurated it, and I had the privilege of participating in the ceremony”, Sahu says.