The Opposition may be coming together against the Narendra Modi government by deciding to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28 but the BJP is standing firm, with senior party leaders arguing that Opposition anger will not have any resonance with the public at large. The Opposition has argued based on constitutional impropriety, saying not getting President Droupadi Murmu to inaugurate the building is an insult to constitutional values. While Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that during the tenure of Congress governments in the past prime ministers inaugurated buildings in the Parliament complex, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has justified the decision to get PM Narendra Modi to unveil the building by citing examples of CMs of non-BJP ruled state governments throwing open new buildings in the Assembly without inviting the Governor or President. “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,” Sarma tweeted on Wednesday. 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. pic.twitter.com/LjP9zjlLGg — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 24, 2023 The four examples he cited were: the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance governments in Jharkhand and Assam laid the foundation stones of Assembly buildings in 2014; Andhra Pradesh CM laid the foundation stone for a new building in 2018; former Congress president Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the Chhattisgarh Assembly building in 2020; and the inauguration of the Telangana Assembly building in 2023. He claimed that in none of these instances was the Governor invited. Sarma later targeted the Opposition for “enacting the drama of boycott” and claimed that the Opposition protest was because the inauguration will take place on the birth anniversary of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar. “The boycott is obvious. They opposed the construction of Parliament House. They never thought that the construction will be completed so soon. So, everything has happened like a bouncer for the Opposition. Just to save their face, they are enacting the drama of boycott … Parliament House will open on the day associated with Veer Savarkar. That might be another reason for them to oppose or boycott the function…” Nineteen Opposition parties, including the Congress, on Wednesday announced their decision to skip the inauguration of the new Parliament building, saying PM Modi’s decision to inaugurate it himself and “completely sidelining” President Droupadi Murmu insults the high office of the President and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution. They said it was unacceptable. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) was not part of the joint statement but also said it would boycott the event. Asked about the Opposition decision, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said at a press conference in New Delhi that the government had extended the invitation to all political parties and they would respond as per their wisdom. Others in the BJP maintained that the Opposition had “made an issue out of a non-issue”. Said a senior party leader, “This issue does not have any negative political consequences and the public does not feel that it is a big issue. The prime minister has a good image among the people and they would not think that he is not fit to inaugurate the new Parliament building.” A Union Minister said the “Opposition is trying to create an issue which does not have any resonance with the public”. Senior BJP leader P Muralidhar Rao said the Opposition was trying to pick a fight. “The parties, in order to create confrontation and make an issue out of differences and disagreements, are unnecessarily making an issue. Modi, being the Prime Minister and the leader of the Lok Sabha and the head of the government, will inaugurate the new building. People will not view it negatively.” BJP allies slam ‘flagrant disrespect’ The BJP’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) said the Opposition’s boycott was a “contemptuous decision” and added that it was not “merely disrespectful; it is a blatant affront to the democratic ethos and constitutional values of our great nation”. In a joint statement, the parties 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.” Blaming the Opposition for the disruptions in Parliament in the last nine years, the BJP allies, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and the Apna Dal (Sonelal), said the Opposition parties “demonstrated an alarming lackadaisical attitude towards their parliamentary duties”. They added, “The audacity of these Opposition parties to preach about parliamentary decency and constitutional values is, in the light of their actions, nothing short of laughable. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds — they boycotted the special GST session presided over by the then President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee; skipped the ceremony when he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, and even extended a late courtesy call to Shri Ramnath Kovind Ji upon his election as President.” The joint statement said the Opposition's move to field a candidate against President Droupadi Murmu in the presidential elections last year was not just disrespectful and an insult to her but a “direct affront 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 a vibrant democracy, an ideology incongruent with the ethos of our nation,” read the statement signed by 14 parties. The BJP’s allies also hit out at the Opposition parties saying that their unity was not about a “shared vision for national development” but about “a shared practice of vote bank politics and a propensity for corruption”. They added, “Such parties can never hope to fulfil the aspirations of the Indian people. 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.”
