The Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India and Rashtriya Janata Dal have decided to boycott the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament building on May 28.
On Tuesday, Trinamool Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien tweeted: “Parliament is not just a new building; it is an establishment with old traditions, values, precedents and rules – it is the foundation of Indian democracy,” he tweeted. “PM Modi doesn’t get that. For him, Sunday’s inauguration of the new building is all about I, ME, MYSELF. So count us out.”
AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that not inviting the president to the ceremony was a “gross insult to her” as well as to the “Dalit Adivasi and the deprived society of India”.
Senior CPI leader Binoy Viswam said: “Parliament can’t be associated in any way with the memory of VD Savarkar. And we definitely can’t be part of it.”
The Congress was also mulling a boycott of the event and the Opposition parties could issue a joint statement on the matter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to inaugurate the building has faced criticism from the Congress, who argue that by not inviting President Droupadi Murmu, the highest constitutional post has been diminished to mere “tokenism.” Additionally, opposition parties have expressed dissatisfaction with the choice of holding the inauguration ceremony on the birth anniversary of Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar.
