Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to inaugurate the new Parliament complex without President Droupadi Murmu, calling it "dangerous for democracy." Raut added that there was no need to build a new Parliament building by spending Rs 20,000 crore when the older one was in good shape and had historical significance. Accusing PM Modi of "sidetracking President Droupadi Murmu who is the head of this nation as well as the Parliament", Raut wrote in his weekly column Rokthok, published in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’: "Trying to take control of the Parliament in this fashion is dangerous for the democracy." Underlining that the Prime Minister's move was the "biggest threat to our democracy", he said, "The country is witnessing a daily fight to save democracy. As per the tradition, there is a demand that the country's President is supposed to inaugurate the new Parliament building. The demand was first made by Rahul Gandhi. All Opposition parties supported his demand." Raut wrote that Modi's inauguration of the new Parliament building was "against democratic principles and laid down convention". Ignoring Murmu for the inauguration ceremony was not in accordance with tradition and protocol, the Sena UBT spokesperson said. "The President has not even been invited for the function. Consequently, Congress and other Opposition parties have decided to boycott the inauguration function. Ignoring the Opposition, the Prime Minister will address the gathering and draw cheers from them. This is the biggest threat to our democracy," Raut wrote. “Everything 'I' means Modi. This is ego itself," the column stated. Targeting PM Modi, Raut said dictatorship flourishes only with the help of bondage of ideas and centralisation of power. He also alleged that even though a new Parliament House has been built, there exists an atmosphere of fear in both Houses of the country over the last eight years. Stating that the Prime Minister was "insulting" the highest seat of the country, he added, "The President gets no invitation and the Opposition has been shown no respect. By keeping everything to himself, the Prime Minister is showing his arrogance. By behaving in this manner, the Prime Minister is insulting the highest post of the country. Rahul Gandhi has said that the Parliament is not raised through bricks of arrogance but on constitutional values.” He went on to add, “Similarly, when [former] Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was brought to court for the hearing of his case, said that Modi was arrogant, he was dragged and taken away. Therefore, what are we going to do by inaugurating the new Parliament complex?" Questioning the need for a new Parliament building, the Rajya Sabha MP said, "The present Parliament House was not so dilapidated that a new Parliament House had to be constructed in a hurry. The present Parliament House of India was built by the British in the 19th century and that entire building remains the centre of attraction of the world even today. The building of the Holland Parliament was built in the 13th century." “History will remember that Rs 20,000 crore was spent unnecessarily for a new Parliament building and the President of India was not even invited,” he underlined. Raut said the new Parliament building was set up single-handedly by Prime Minister Modi. "The reason being that he wanted to permanently erase all historic signs of Congress victory from Delhi. The Prime Minister intends to show that the country's capital was built by him after 2014 and that before it, Delhi was lying in ruins," he said. The Sena leader said bulldozers were being used in Lutyens Delhi to demolish all such monuments so that the coming generations will not come to know about it.
