Cong hits out at Modi govt on Parliament House inauguration

Days ahead of the opening of the new parliament building, a controversy has erupted as the Congress on Monday accused the government of disrespecting Constitutional propriety and demanded that President Droupadi Murmu should do the inauguration instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that the then president Ram Nath Kovind was not invited for the new Parliament’s foundation laying ceremony in December 2020 and claimed that President Murmu is not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
“The Modi Government has repeatedly disrespected propriety. The Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government,” the Congress president said in a series of tweets. Noting that Parliament is the supreme legislative body while the President is the highest Constitutional authority, he said she alone represents the government, the Opposition, and every citizen alike.
“She is the First Citizen of India. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise the government’s commitment to democratic values and Constitutional propriety,” Kharge said.
Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Former Congress president Rahul Gandi and several opposition leaders have said that the president should inaugurate the new Parliament House rather than the prime minister.
Congress creating unnecessary row for its ‘cheap politics’: BJP
The BJP on Monday accused the Congress of trying to create an unnecessary controversy over the inauguration of the new Parliament building and said it has the habit of indulging in “cheap politics” of running down the country’s achievements for its selfish ends.
“Whenever a good thing happens, Congress leaders resort to cheap politics which has become its hallmark under Rahul Gandhi. When the nation is feeling proud on the construction of new Parliament building, its leaders have again stooped to a new low,” BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni said.
Hitting out at the Congress, Baluni said, “Its perverse mindset has become more entrenched because of Rahul Gandhi’s anarchist politics and is on full display as the country excitedly awaits the inauguration of the new building of Parliament, which will stand as a symbol of the Indian democracy.”
He alleged that Congress leaders’ remarks reflect the “negative and defeatist mindset” that has consistently led them to hurt the national morale time and again.
“The construction of the new Parliament building is a glorious moment and every India is feeling proud about it. However, the Congress cannot stop playing the spoilsport. They have been rejected by the people of the country and such comments show their frustration,” Baluni said.