Ahead of the scheduled inauguration event for India's new Parliament building on May 28, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed his opinion that the President, rather than the Prime Minister, should perform the inauguration.
"The President should inaugurate the new Parliament House, not the Prime Minister!" Gandhi wrote in a tweet in Hindi.
Amidst the ongoing discussions surrounding the inauguration of India's new Parliament building, Speaker Om Birla of the Lok Sabha met with Prime Minister Modi on May 18. During the meeting, the Speaker extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to inaugurate the building. However, this decision faced criticism from opposition leaders who argued that the head of the legislature, rather than the head of the government, should have the honor of performing the inauguration. As a result, more opposition leaders have joined in expressing their objections to the current arrangement.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi posed a question asking why Lok Sabha speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman were not chosen for the important task. "Why should PM inaugurate Parliament? He is head of the executive, not the 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 wrote on Twitter.
Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray raised concerns about the timing of the inauguration, highlighting in a tweet that it coincides with the birth anniversary of Veer Savarkar, a contentious RSS figure revered by the ruling BJP.
"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?" he wrote in his tweet.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh also hit out at the government saying, "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."
The Congress party has criticised the new Parliament building as Prime Minister Modi's personal project, referring to it as a display of vanity. The building, featuring a distinctive triangular design and spanning 64,500 square meters, had its foundation stone laid on December 10, 2020. It has the capacity to accommodate a maximum of 1,280 members in the event of a joint sitting of both Houses.
