Who should inaugurate Parliament building? The political row explained
Who should inaugurate Parliament building? The political row explained
The much-awaited new Parliament building, a four-storey structure that has 888 seats in the Lok Sabha chamber and 384 seats in the Rajya Sabha chamber, is generating a lot of buzz ahead of its inauguration on 28 May.
The inauguration, which is meant to be a momentous occasion as India bids adieu to another symbol of British colonialism and embraces the idea of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, has been reduced to a political fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, which may lead to the latter boycotting the event.
What’s the debate all about? Why is the Congress considering a boycott of the event? We have the answers for you.
Where’s the President?
The row over the new Parliament building is centred around who will be inaugurating it on 28 May.
On 18 May, the Lok Sabha Secretariat had issued a statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new building symbolising the spirit of a self-reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat) on 28 May.
This has angered the Congress and other opposition parties, which argue that it should be the President Droupadi Murmu and not Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the building. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has attacked the government for not inviting President Droupadi Murmu, saying that the Office of the President is reduced to “tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government”.
In a series of tweets on Monday, Kharge pulling no punches said that even at the foundation laying ceremony two years ago, the President – then Ram Nath Kovind – had been sidelined. He further wrote, “She alone represents government, opposition, and every citizen alike. She is the First Citizen of India. Inauguration of the new Parliament building by her will symbolise Government’s commitment to Democratic values and Constitutional propriety.”
It looks like the Modi Govt has ensured election of President of India from the Dalit and the Tribal communities only for electoral reasons.
While Former President, Shri Kovind was not invited for the New Parliament foundation laying ceremony…
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— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 22, 2023
Kharge’s attack came a day after former MP and Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter that the president should inaugurate the new Parliament House, not the prime minister.
Several other leaders of the Grand Old Party also voiced their opposition to Modi inaugurating the triangular building on Sunday. Talking to the media on Monday, senior leader Anand Sharma said as the sovereignty of India, which is vested in the people of India, rests in the institution called the Parliament of India it was important that the President inaugurated the new Parliament building.
When asked if the Congress would boycott the event on Sunday, “The Congress has expressed its concern as the principal opposition party and we feel strongly that the constitutional propriety should be maintained and the honourable president who is the head of the Parliament should be requested by the government to inaugurate. The honourable prime minister has every right to be there and we are only pointing out what is constitutionally correct.”
Other MPs belonging to other opposition parties have also questioned the absence of the President at the event. Trinamool Congress’s leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien said: “Parliament is not just a new building; it is an establishment with old traditions, values, precedents and rules — it is the foundation of Indian democracy. Prime Minister Modi doesn’t get that.”
Samajwadi Party’s Ghanshyam Tiwari said his party was of the view that the “new Parliament building belongs to the entire nation and the President as the head of the Parliament should have inaugurated it… it would have also set the tone for an India where women have greater say in leadership in politics.”
Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) noted that the President is the head of Parliament according to India’s Constitutional scheme. “He or she is the one who summons Parliament and addresses the Parliament’s first session every year. According to the Constitution, it is the President who is the head. The same thing had happened in 2020 when the foundation stone was laid for the new building. The President was not invited. The prime minister also unveiled the national emblem…this government is virtually converting India into a presidential form,” he said.
But who actually heads Parliament?
The Opposition’s argument of having the President and not prime minister inaugurate the new seat of India’s power – the Parliament – comes from the Constitution itself. Article 79 of the Constitution defines Parliament as – “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.”
Furthermore, all decisions concerning the summoning of the Parliament is vested in the President under Article 85. Other articles in the Constitution also outline the President’s power pertaining to Parliament. For instance, Article 86 states that ‘The President may address either House of Parliament or both Houses assembled together, and for that purpose require the attendance of members.’
Article 111 of the Constitution also says that no Bill passed by both the Houses of Parliament can become an Act without the assent of the president.
A Savarkar factor?
The Congress has also expressed dismay at the BJP’s decision to inaugurate the Parliament on 28 May, the birth anniversary of Hindu Rashtra proponent VD Savarkar.
Amit Malviya, the BJP’s IT chief, had tweeted earlier, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on 28th May 2023, which is also the 140th birth anniversary of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the great son of India.”
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter to express anger, saying: “A complete insult to all our Founding Fathers and Mothers. A total rejection of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Bose, et al. A blatant repudiation of Dr Ambedkar.”
Even TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray wrote on Twitter that in the 75th year of India’s independence, it would have been befitting to inaugurate the new Parliament building on 26 November – the day when the Constitution was adopted in 1949. “But it shall be done on 28 May, birthday of Savarkar- How much relevant?” Ray tweeted.
Also read: What’s in a name? How new Parliament building is at the centre of naming row
What BJP said?
The BJP has hit back at the Opposition, especially the Congress, saying it was in the habit of indulging in ‘cheap politics’ of running down the country’s achievements.
Sources speaking to news agency PTI said that President Murmu was approached for the event but she wanted the prime minister to do so. “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 the new Parliament building, its leaders have again stooped to a new low,” BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni said.
The party also said that in 1975 it had been then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and not the President who had inaugurated Parliament House Annexe.
Union minister Hardeep Puri also waded into the row, saying the Congress had a habit of raking controversies where none existed. “While President is the head of State, the prime minister is the head of government and leads the Parliament on behalf of the government, whose policies are effected in form laws. The President is not a member of either House, whereas PM is.”
With inputs from agencies
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