RJD joins Oppn parties boycott of new Parliament building inauguration

Joining a series of opposition parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday announced to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28.

The other opposition parties are the AAP, Trinamool Congress, JD(U) and the CPI-M.

The reason to boycott the even was because the Prime Minister was inaugurating the building and not President Droupadi Murmu, which according to the parties, was an insult to her.

In a video statement, RJD MP Manoj Jha said: "In the last few days when we came to know that the Prime Minister was inaugurating the new Parliament House, we had suggested that as per the Constitutional system, the President should do the inauguration. This would have been as per the tradition of the Parliament system. But the Prime Minister does not listen to anyone.

"Thus all the opposition parties have decided to give a message to the government that even if history is written after 20-25 years, people will still know that opposition parties had boycotted the inauguration keeping in mind that the Constitition is supreme and there should not be anything that demands the post of the President. And we still request the Prime Minister that there is a requirement of course correction."

Speaking to IANS over the phone, JD(U) leader K.C. Tyagi said: "The party is propagating the cause of the opposition unity. And majority of the opposition parties wants to boycott the inauguration because the government did not take anyone into confidence. And secondly the inauguration should have been done by the President."

Tyagi further said that the new and old buildings were immaterial as the government doesn't allow the opposition to discuss and the voice of dissents are not allowed.

"The traditions are being curbed, so to support the opposition's cause we have decided to boycott the inauguration," he told IANS.

When asked if there has been any communication from Congress if it will also boycott the inauguration, the JD(U) leader said: "Hopefully, they (Congress will also boycott."

A row has erupted after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded that President Murmu should inaugurate the new Parliament House instead of Modi, leading to a war of words between the BJP and Congress.

The new Parliament House is a triangular four-storey building, with a built-up area of 64,500 square metres.

The building's construction started on January 15, 2021 and was to be completed by August 2022.

It will house 1,224 MPs and also has a library, multiple committee rooms and dining rooms.

Tata Projects has constructed the building at an estimated cost of Rs 970 crore.

--IANS

aks/ksk/