© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Nineteen Opposition parties on Wednesday issued a joint statement announcing that they would boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate it and not President Droupadi Murmu.
The 19 parties are the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Janata Dal (United), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Communist Party of India (CPI), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), National Conference, Kerala Congress (Mani), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
Apart from these 19 parties, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has said it will not attend the event. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), according to party insiders, is also not going to attend the event but it has not issued an official statement yet.
All these parties fall short of the strength of the BJP in the Lok Sabha where the ruling party has 301 members. In the Rajya Sabha, they are just four seats more than the BJP that has 93 MPs in the Upper House. But, the BJP can count on the support of smaller National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members and parties such as the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), both of which will attend the inauguration of the new Parliament building. With their support — the YSRCP has 23 Upper House MPs and the BJD nine — the BJP is comfortably placed in the Rajya Sabha too.
