Parliament building inauguration: 19 like-minded opposition parties including Congress issue joint statement to boycott event

On Wednesday, 19 like-minded opposition parties issuing a joint statement informed their decision to boycott the inaugural event of the newly constructed Parliament building scheduled on May 28 objecting the decision of the inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The decision of the inauguration came after Lok Sabha Secretariat on May 18 informed about Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla meeting PM Modi to invite him to inaugurate the building.

A row over the decision started since then, with a series of opposition parties and leaders joining one after another to make an attack on the Centre over the decision of PM Modi inaugurating the complex.

The opposition parties demand that as per the Constitution, the Parliament should be inaugurated by the President of India Droupadi Murmu.

The list of opposition parties include Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK), Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party (SP), Communist Party of India(CPI), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JKM), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Janata Dal(United), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Rashtrtiya Janata Dal(RJD).

The list continues with Communist Party of India(Marxist), Viduthalai Chiruthagalai Kachi, Rastriya Lok Dal(RLD), National Conference, Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (Mani), Revolutionary Socialist Party and Malumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).

The joint statement of the opposition parties read that the occasion of the inauguration is a momentous occasion for the country. It said that despite their of the government threatening the democracy and its disapproval on the autocratic manner in which the Parliament was constructed, they were ready to set aside their differences by marking their presence in the event.

The statement added, the decision of PM Modi himself inaugurating the building and sidelining the President is an serious insult and a direct attack on the country’s democracy, which requires an action.

Referring to Article 79 of the Indian Constitution, the statement said the Parliament cannot function without the President but still the decision of the inauguration by PM Modi was taken without involving President Murmu in inauguration is an grave insult and violates the constitution.

The opposition parties even attacked on the disqualification of opposition members in the Parliament, the statement also added saying the Parliament was built at such a huge expense during the pandemic period without even the consultation of any MP’s for whom it is  being constructed.

Concluding the statement, the parties wrote that when the soul of the democracy has been taken out from the Parliament (considered to be the temple of democracy), there remains no value in the new building and the like-minded parties hence announced their decision to boycott the inauguration event.

The opposition parties also informed that they will continue their fight against PM Modi tagging him an authoritarian.

The foundation stone of the newly built Parliament was laid by Prime Minister Modi on December 10, 2020.