Congress, 18 other parties to boycott Parliament inauguration by PM; 13 alliance partners support govt

Nineteen Opposition parties jointly announced the boycott of PM Modi inaugurating the new Parliament building this Sunday by arguing that the Constitutional and protocol proprieties demanded the President doing the honours but instead the latter was "sidelined".

"The inauguration of a new Parliament building is a momentous occasion. Despite our belief that the government is threatening democracy, and our disapproval of the autocratic manner in which the new Parliament was built, we were open to sinking our differences and marking this occasion. However, prime minister Modi's decision to inaugurate the new Parliament building by himself, completely sidelining President Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response," said a joint statement issued by the Congress ,TMC, DMK, JDU, AAP, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), CPM, SP, RJD, CPI, IUML, JMM, NC, KCM, RSP, VCK, MDMK and RLD. The BRS choosing not to join the group stood out given it had been working with these parties in Parliament.

This, significantly, also meant another group of Opposition parties such as BJD, YSRCP, AIADMK, BSP, TDP, JDS, AGP, Tamil Manila Congress and a couple of N-E parties not signing up for the boycott call. More importantly, political circles feel this division in the larger Opposition turf could also indicate a possible similar divided opposition line-up in the Rajya Sabha in the next session, working to the advantage of the government when it seeks to provide legislative framework for the contentious Ordinance on Delhi services.

Justifying their insistence that the President should have inaugurated the new Parliament, the 19-Opposition parties said: "The President is not only the head of state in India, but also an integral part of Parliament. She summons, prorogues, and addresses the Parliament. She must assent for an Act of Parliament to take effect. In short, the Parliament cannot function without the President. Yet, the prime minister has decided to inaugurate the new Parliament building without her. This undignified act insults the high office of the President, and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution".

Lamenting that Opposition MPs have been disqualified, suspended and muted and that MPs from the Treasury benches have disrupted Parliament and many Bills were passed without debates, of late, these parties added: "When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the Parliament, we find no value in a new building. We announce our collective decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building. We will continue to fight - in letter, in spirit, and in substance - against this authoritarian prime minister and his government, and take our message directly to the people of India".

The projected reasons for boycott notwithstanding, the unpublicised grouses of these parties involve the realisation that the Modi government will project the new Parliament (its pet project along with Central Vista and Ram Temple) as its legacy and LS poll plank and also the fact the government chose Hindutva icon VD Savarkar's birth anniversary for inaugurating the new Parliament.

On its part, the government side has already started countering the Opposition argument by pointing out it was the then PMs -- Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi -- who had inaugurated and laid the foundation stone respectively of the Parliament Annexe and the Parliament Library complex, the two mega projects that had marked expansion of the existing Parliament House.