New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday (May 21) said that the President, not the Prime Minister, should inaugurate India’s new Parliament building. His remark came a few days before the scheduled inauguration event on May 28. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said, “The President should inaugurate the new Parliament House and not the Prime Minister”.
PM Modi to inaugurate Parliament building on May 28
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly-constructed Parliament building on May 28. On May 18, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and invited him to inaugurate the New Parliament Building.
It is pertinent to mention, the inauguration of the new Parliament building coincides with the birth anniversary of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar and several opposition parties have targeted the government over it and the Congress has called it a “complete insult” to the country’s founding fathers. The Congress has also called the new Parliament building PM Modi’s vanity project.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “A complete insult to all our Founding Fathers and Mothers. A total rejection of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Bose, et al. A blatant repudiation of Dr. Ambedkar.”
Opposition leaders reaction
Apart from Congress, several other opposition leaders voiced their objection to PM Modi inaugurating the new Parliament building citing that the Prime Minister is the head of the government and not the head of the legislature.
Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray raised the question of the timing, remarking in a tweet that the inauguration coincides with the birth anniversary of Veer Savarkar, the controversial RSS icon that the ruling BJP ardently follows. “26 November 2023 – Indian Constitution, which gifted parliamentary democracy to the nation, shall step into its 75th year, which would’ve been befitting for the inauguration of the new Sansad Bhawan. But it shall be done on 28 May, the birthday of Savarkar. How much relevant?” Ray wrote in a tweet.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked why Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman won’t inaugurate it. “Why should PM inaugurate Parliament? He is head of the executive, not legislature. We have separation of powers & Hon’ble @loksabhaspeaker & RS Chair could have inaugurated. It’s made with public money, why is PM behaving like his “friends” have sponsored it from their private funds?” Owaisi tweeted.
About new Parliament building
According to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the new Parliament building can comfortably seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha chamber and 300 in the Rajya Sabha chamber, it said.
In case of a joint sitting of both the Houses, a total of 1,280 members can be accommodated in the Lok Sabha chamber.
The Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone of the new parliament building on December 10, 2020. The new building has been built in record time with quality construction, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said.
The present building of the Parliament was completed in 1927 and is now 96 years old. Over the years, the old building was found to be inadequate for present-day requirements.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha had passed resolutions urging the government to construct a new building for the Parliament.