Nineteen opposition parties, including the National Conference (NC), announced in a joint statement that they will boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28.
Speaking with The Kashmir Walla, Member of Parliament from south Kashmir Hasnain Masoodi said that the NC has decided to opt out of the ceremony to be presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“None of us [NC parliamentarians] are going to participate in the inauguration ceremony. It is the President of India who is the right person to do the inauguration. This is a sheer disrespect towards the highest post of the country,” Masoodi said.
The opposition parties issued a joint statement stating they would not attend the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Modi.
“Farooq sahib is in Srinagar and has no plans to travel to New Delhi for the inauguration,” Masoodi said.
In the joint statement, a copy of which was uploaded on the Twitter handle of the Congress’s communication department, the opposition parties said PM Modi’s move to inaugurate the new Parliament building “by himself, completely sidelining President Droupadi Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response”.
Masoodi said that the decision has been taken in line with other opposition parties who have decided to boycott the inauguration ceremony.
The 19 parties who will boycott the inauguration are — Congress, DMK, AAP, TMC, Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party (SP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Kerala Congress (Mani), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), JD(U), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), National Conference (NC), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).
Meanwhile, taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, NC vice-president Omar Abdullah praised the new Parliament building, by terming it “pretty damn impressive.”
“Setting aside the brouhaha about the inauguration for a moment, this building is a welcome addition. The old Parliament House has served us well but as someone who has worked there for a few years, a lot of us often spoke amongst ourselves about the need for a new & improved parliament building. Better late than never is all I’ll say & this one looks pretty damn impressive.(sic),” Omar tweeted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28.
PM Modi laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament Building on 10 December 2020.
