“Soul Of Democracy Sucked Out”: Opposition To Boycott Parliament Opening

Nineteen opposition parties, including the Congress and Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party, said Wednesday morning they intend to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building in Delhi this weekend and criticised an ‘authoritarian prime minister and his government’.

“When the soul of democracy has been sucked out 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 opposition parties said that despite differences with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party they had been open to ‘sinking our differences and marking this occasion’ but said ‘prime minister Narendra Modi’s decision to inaugurate the Parliament building by himself, completely sidelining president (Droupadi) Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on democracy.

Referring to the Constitution’s Article 79, the opposition parties said Murmu ‘is not only the Head of State but also an integral part of the 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,” the opposition parties declared.

The joint statement by the opposition – which has steadily united against the BJP, particularly since the controversial disqualification from Lok Sabha of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after his conviction in the ‘Modi surname’ case – also accused Modi of having ‘relentlessly hollowed out the Parliament’.

The opposition referred even to the three farm laws that led to furious protests and violence before a mass movement by farmers, opposition leaders and civil society activists forced the Modi government to recall and scrap all three laws.

The parties that signed this statement include the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party; the latter is an ally of the Congress in Maharashtra and the former in Tamil Nadu. The Janata Dal (United) of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who has reached out to opposition leaders, including Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal, in efforts to unite them before the 2024 general election, is also a signatory.

Also on the list are the Communist Party of India and CPI (Marxist), the Shiv Sena faction led by ex-Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray (also a Congress ally), ex-Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.

Jharkhand’s ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (Mani), the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the National Conference of ex-Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq and Omar Abdullah, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and the Revolutionary Socialist Party will also boycott the ceremony.

The BJP and members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will, of course, be in attendance, as will a few other major parties.

Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal has not signed the opposition statement or announced its position on this issue. Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi is attending, provisionally; the party is expected to take a decision Thursday.

The YSRCP of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy will attend the ceremony, party MP Vijaysai Reddy said Wednesday afternoon.

Shortly after the opposition letter, union home minister Amit Shah said, “We should not politicise this issue… let people think and react however they want.”

Shah’s cabinet colleague Hardeep Singh Puri had hit back on Tuesday, pointing out Congress prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had, in the past, inaugurated the Parliament annexe and library, respectively.

Puri was responding to a tweet by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and said, “In August 1975, then-PM Indira Gandhi inaugurated the Parliament annexe… in 1987 PM Rajiv Gandhi inaugurated the Parliament library. If your head of government can inaugurate…why can’t our head of government do the same?”

Speaking after the joint statement was released, senior Congress leader KC Venugopal said he was ‘very happy’ at the unity on show by the opposition.

“Congress discussed with all like-minded parties to boycott inaugural function of new Parliament building on 28th May. We are very happy that all opposition parties are coming together to fight against this,” Venugopal told reporters.

Modi is to inaugurate the new Parliament building at noon on Sunday.