Parliament building inauguration row: FM Nirmala Sitharaman urges opposition parties to attend the event

Amid the fight between opposition and Centre over the inauguration of newly built Parliament building, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, appealed the opposition parties to change their opinion and attend the inaugural event on May 28.

Sitharaman addressing a event in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai said the Parliament is a temple of Democracy and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped inside bowing on the stairs of the parliament.

Sitharaman further requested and made an appeal to the  opposition parties to give a second thought on their decision to boycott the event, change their stand and requested to mark their presence in the inauguration of the newly constructed Parliament building.

This comes just a day after the decision of opposition parties to boycott the event expressing their dissatisfaction.

The newly constructed Parliament building is set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28 Sunday.

The decision of the inauguration by PM Modi has stirred a controversy between the opposition and the Centre.

Opposition parties are raising objection over the decision and demanding that the inauguration should be done by the hands of President Droupadi Murmu and not by Prime Minister Modi.

Yesterday, a total of 19 like-minded opposition parties issued a joint statement informing about their decision to avoid the inauguration ceremony.

The list of opposition parties include Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, National Congress Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Janata Dal (United), Communist Party and many others.

The opposition parties in their statement termed the decision of the inauguration by PM Modi as a grave insult to the Constitution and alleged that the BJP is trying to sideline the President.

To this the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also issued a statement launching a sharp counter attack on the opposition parties decision.

Meanwhile Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal and Andhra Pradesh’s YSRCP have decided to attend the event.