Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inaugurating the new Parliament building, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said the right to inaugurate the new Parliament was taken away from President Droupadi Murmu.
The Congress and twenty opposition parties boycotted the inauguration of the new Parliament building accusing the BJP of not inviting President Droupadi Murmu and citing it as an insult to the first tribal President of the country.
Kharge also condemned the police detention of wrestlers protesting at the Jantar Mantar here All the protesting wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat were detained by the Delhi Police here at the Jantar Mantar on Sunday after they along with their supporters jumped over the police barricades and tried to march towards the newly constructed Parliament building.
“The right to inaugurate the new parliament was taken away from the President. Women players were beaten with dictatorial force on the streets! Three lies of BJP-RSS rulers are now exposed in front of the country — Democracy, Nationalism, and Save Daughter. Remember Modi ji, democracy does not run with buildings, but is run by the voice of the people,” Kharge said in a tweet.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi described Parliament as the voice of the people and criticised Modi for inaugurating the new Parliament House, saying that the Prime Minister is considering the inauguration as a coronation.
In a tweet in Hindi, the Congress leader said: “Parliament is the voice of the people. The Prime Minister is considering the inauguration of the Parliament House as a coronation.”
His remarks came after Modi inaugurated the new Parliament House following ‘puja’ and ‘havan’ Modi also installed the historic ‘Sengol’ near the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair in the new building.
Slamming the government for choosing May 28 for the event, Congress General Secretary and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh in a tweet said: “On this day, May 28th. (First Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal) Nehru, the person who did the most to nurture Parliamentary democracy in India, was cremated in 1964. (VD) Savarkar, the person whose ideological ecosystem led to the killing of Mahatma Gandhi, was born in 1883.”
He said, “The President — the first Adivasi to become President — is not allowed to fulfil her Constitutional duties and inaugurate the New Parliament building in 2023.”
Targeting the Prime Minister, Ramesh, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, said: “A self-glorifying authoritarian Prime Minister with utter disdain for Parliamentary procedures, who rarely attends Parliament or engages in it, inaugurates the New Parliament building in 2023.”
“Fabrication of facts by Distorians and the drum-beating of the media hits new lows in 2023.”
While Modi inaugurated the new Parliament house, the RJD compared the shape of the new building with a coffin.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on its official Twitter handle posted two photographs — one is the aerial view of the newly built Parliament and the other is a coffin and also gave a caption “What is this (Ye Kya Hai)”.
After the RJD compared the new Parliament building with a coffin, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said that he was not aware of any such tweet.
While interacting with media persons in Patna, Tejashwi Yadav said that he would look into the matter.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on its official Twitter uploaded a photograph of the new Parliament building and compared it with a coffin, which led to a huge outrage from the BJP.
Several BJP leaders like Sushil Modi, Samrat Chaudhary, Sanjay Jaiswal and others condemned the RJD.
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said that he was not happy to see the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
The statement came after the Prime Minister inaugurated the new Parliament building. “I saw the event in the morning. I am happy I didn’t go there. I am worried after seeing whatever happened there. Are we taking the country backwards? Was this event for limited people only?,” said Pawar on the inauguration of the new Parliament with havan, multi-faith prayers and ‘Sengol’.
He said that whatever happened is the exact reverse of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s concept of society.
“What is happening there is exactly the reverse of what Pt Nehru who had a concept to make a society based on modern science. It’s the government’s responsibility to invite the President and Vice president. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla was present, but Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, the head of Rajya Sabha, wasn’t there. Therefore the whole event looks like it was for limited people …,” he said.
