19 Opposition parties to boycott inaugural ceremony

(Centre) Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur and Union Minister for Culture G. Kishan Reddy during a press conference with an image of the new parliament in the background on Wednesday, in New Delhi. Pic/PTI

In a show of unity, 19 opposition parties, including the Congress, Left and TMC, on Wednesday announced their decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying they find no value in a new building when the soul of democracy has been sucked out.

Noting that the inauguration of the Parliament building is a momentous occasion, the opposition parties in a joint statement said, "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 Droupadi Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response".

Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

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The opposition parties said the president is not only the Head of State in India, but also an integral part of Parliament as she summons, prorogues, and addresses it. "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. 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 signatories of the joint statement.

The decision to boycott came amid a war of words on the matter between the government and the opposition, which has been demanding that the president inaugurate the new Parliament building and not the prime minister.

The opposition parties said the new building has been 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. "When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from Parliament, we find no value in a new building. We announce our collective decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building," the parties said. "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.

‘An insult'

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said neither getting President Droupadi Murmu to inaugurate the new Parliament building nor inviting her to the ceremony is an "insult" to the country's highest constitutional post.

In a tweet in Hindi, he said, "Neither getting the President to inaugurate the Parliament nor inviting her to the ceremony is an insult to the country's highest constitutional post."

"Parliament is not constructed by bricks of ego, but through constitutional values," Gandhi said.

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