‘President not member’: BJP’s defence vs Opposition’s jibe on new Parliament building

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Tuesday said Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri must read the Constitution of India after the Union minister slammed the Congress for “raking controversies where none exist” after Congress leaders raised questions over PM Modi inaugurating the new Parliament building on May 28.

An aerial view of the New Parliament House which will be inaugurated on May 28.

“Congress has a habit of raking controversies where none exist. While President is the Head of State, PM is the Head of Govt and leads the Parliament on behalf of the Govt, whose Policies are effected in form of Laws. The President is not a Member of either House, whereas PM is,” Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted.

Citing Article 79 of the Constitution, Manish Tewari said, “There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the council of States and the House of the People. Ministers of the Union must read the Constitution of India very carefully.

PM Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 — on the birth anniversary of VD Savarkar. Congress leaders and several other opposition leaders asked why the PM will inaugurate and not the president.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the new Parliament building should be inaugurated by the President and not the Prime Minister.

The same opinion was echoed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge who questioned why President Droupadi Murmu is not being invited to the inauguration. “The Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS government,” Kharge said.

President alone represents the government, opposition and every citizen aline, Kharge said.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said it was bizarre when the PM performed the ground-breaking ceremony of the new Parliament building. “Articles 60 and 111 of the Constitution of India make it clear that the President is the head of parliament. It was bizarre enough that the PM performed the ground-breaking ceremony & puja when construction began, but totally incomprehensible (& arguably unconstitutional) for him and not the President to inaugurate the building,” Tharoor said.

To Tharoor’s comment, minister Hardeep Singh Puri said President is not a member of either of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.

Congress’s Anand Sharma said Article 79 makes it clear that Parliament comprises the President of India, the head of the Parliament, and the two houses. “First, the permanent house the Rajya Sabha, the Council of States and then the House of the People, the Lok Sabha. Why the Council of States? Because India is a union of states. And the Chairman of Rajya Sabha is the number 2 in the warrant of precedence, the honourable Vice President of India,” Anand Sharma said.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the BJP, blinded by power, has become a fountainhead of constitutional immorality. “The Hon. President is the Head of the Legislature, which is above the head of the Government ie the the PM of India. The new parliament inauguration should be done by the President as the protocol demands,” Chaturvedi tweeted.
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