REACTING TO the Opposition's boycott decision, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that the government had invited all political parties for the inauguration of the new Parliament building and they would take a call based on their own feelings (“bhaavana”). Rallying behind the BJP, its NDA allies, in a joint statement, said the Opposition's stand was a “blatant affront to democratic ethos and constitutional values”, and asked the parties to reconsider their decision. “Bharat sarkar ne sab ko vinti kiya hai ke aap upastith rahiye. Sab apni apni bhaavana ke anusaar karenge. (The government has requested all to be present. Everyone will act according to their own feelings),” Shah said at a press conference earlier in the day. He announced that a sacred sceptre, 'Sengol', that was handed to Jawaharlal Nehru to mark the transfer of power from the British, will be handed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration and will be installed in the new Parliament building. Asked how the Opposition would view the sceptre ceremony, Shah said: “Don’t link this to politics. This is a very sentimental proceeding that is linking new India with our traditions. This should be seen in a limited way. Politics has its own place and everyone reacts based on their own capacity to think.” He said the sceptre symbolises fair and just rule. “The most important thing is that there is an expectation of fair and just rule from the person who receives the sengol,” he said. Senior BJP leaders said the Opposition's boycott would “not have any resonance with the public”. “Political parties, in order to create confrontation. are unnecessarily making an issue. Modi being the PM, leader of Lok Sabha and head of the government, will inaugurate the new building. People will not take it negatively,” said senior BJP leader P Muralidhar Rao. “This issue does not have any negative political consequences. The PM has a good image among the people, and they will not think that he is not fit to inaugurate the new Parliament building,” said a senior BJP leader. The “Opposition is trying to create an issue which does not have any resonance with the public,” said another senior party leader and Union minister. “In the last 9 years, 5 non-BJP/ Opposition state governments either laid foundation stones or inaugurated a new Legislative Assembly building. All were done by either the chief minister or the party president. In not a single instance was the Governor or President invited,” tweeted Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. In the joint statement signed by 14 parties, the BJP-led NDA said: “Parliament is a hallowed institution, the beating heart of our democracy, and the epicentre of decision-making that shapes and influences the lives of our citizens. Such flagrant disrespect towards this institution betrays not only intellectual bankruptcy but a disturbing contempt for the very essence of democracy.” It said the Opposition's move to field a candidate against President Droupadi Murmu in the presidential election was a “disrespect” and an insult to her, as well as to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. “It is painfully apparent that the Opposition shuns Parliament because it represents the will of the people - a will that has repeatedly rejected their antiquated and self-serving politics. Their preference for semi-monarchic governments and family-run parties shows an aversion to vibrant democracy, an ideology incongruent with the ethos of our nation,” it said. “Their actions today will echo through the annals of history, casting a long shadow over their legacy. We urge them to think about the nation and not individual political gains,” it said. Meanwhile, giving details of the sceptre at the press conference earlier in the day, Shah said it was made of silver and plated with gold, and had been preserved at the Allahabad Museum till now. He said most Indians were not aware of the 'sacred sengol ceremony' that took place on August 14, 1947, just before Nehru’s 'Tryst with Destiny' speech. Nehru received the sceptre at his residence from priests of the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam (Mutt) in Tamil Nadu, who had the sceptre commissioned by a Chennai-based jewellery house, Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, for Rs 15,000, he said. Shah said the priests first presented the sceptre to the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, then took it back and purified it with holy water, before taking it in a procession to Nehru’s residence. Nehru was handed the sceptre as the priests recited a song by a 7th Century Tamil saint that concluded with the line: “The followers (the King) will rule as in the heavens, as per our order”. The sceptre, which is five feet in height and features Nandi, the sacred bull, on the top, will be installed near the Lok Sabha Speaker’s podium, Shah said. The handover ceremony will be attended by priests from the same Mutt and it will be broadcast live on Doordarshan. Asked about the government’s objective behind installing the sceptre at Parliament, Shah said: “The aim was clear back then, as it is now. The transfer of power is not done just by shaking of hands and signing on a document. It is a symbol that governance should be just, as per policies, and on the path of duty. This will send a message to the public and elected representatives… The placing of the sengol in Parliament is indicative of the same feeling that Jawaharlal Nehru felt on August 14, 1947.” Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy were also present at the press conference.
