On May 23, Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri gave a befitting reply to the Congress leaders who were creating a fuss about Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the new Parliament building.
In a series of Tweets, Puri said that Congress President and other leaders previously criticised the new Parliament building and questioned its necessity. He added that now they have shifted the goalpost by generously misquoting an article from the Constitution.
From criticising the New Parliament Building & questioning its very necessity despite many of them advocating for it before but not executing it, Congress President & other worthies are now shifting the goalpost by generously misquoting an article a day from the Constitution! pic.twitter.com/GUwexamcZy
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 23, 2023
Minister Puri further reminded the Congress leaders of their uncharitable comments about President Droupadi Murmu. He said, “After uncharitable comments about Hon’ble President in the past by its leaders, Congress president now makes uncalled for & gratuitous comments on her election! Tragic that Congress claiming to be a national party lacks in any national spirit & sense of pride in India’s progress.”
Why can’t they just join the nation in celebrating this creation of a valuable asset for posterity, as the New India’s temple of the mother of all democracies & jettison the prolonged sulk & indulgence in partisan polemics based on falsehoods.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 23, 2023
Puri questioned Congress leaders’ intentions as they consistently indulged in partisan polemics based on falsehoods.
So, instead of now finding articles to justify their hypocrisy why can’t they just smile & join India on this momentous achievement & her march to greatness!
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 23, 2023
The minister reminded the Congress leaders of two specific dates. The first was October 24, 1975, when then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi inaugurated the Parliament Annexe and the second was August 15, 1987, when then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation of the Parliament Library.
He said, “So, instead of now finding articles to justify their hypocrisy why can’t they just smile & join India on this momentous achievement & her march to greatness!”
Comments by Congress leaders
For the past several days, Congress leaders have been attacking the ruling party BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that they are insulting the President of India by letting PM Modi inaugurate the new Parliament Building.
The Congress President and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of using Dalit and Tribal communities for electoral reasons. In a series of tweets, Kharge accused the central government of not inviting then-President Kovind for laying down the foundation of the new Parliament building and President Droupadi Murmu for the inauguration of the same.
It looks like the Modi Govt has ensured election of President of India from the Dalit and the Tribal communities only for electoral reasons.
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 22, 2023
While Former President, Shri Kovind was not invited for the New Parliament foundation laying ceremony…
1/4
Quoting Kharge, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor cited Article 60 and Article 111 of the Constitution of India which suggest the President is the head of the Parliament. He said, “It was bizarre enough that the PM performed the ground-breaking ceremony & puja when construction began, but incomprehensible (& arguably unconstitutional) for him and not the President to inaugurate the building.”
Yes @kharge Sahib is right. 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 (&… https://t.co/fuan2AyMJm
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 22, 2023
Congress leader Manish Tiwari cited Article 79 of the Constitution of India which says, “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”.
Article 79 COI
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) May 23, 2023
“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 @HardeepSPuri https://t.co/S0KHE6exWo
Parliament documents about events specified by Puri
Several documents talk about the two events Minister Puri mentioned. For instance, a PDF in Lok Sabha documents named Parliament House Estate under the Section Construction of the Building noted that the foundation stone of the Parliament House Annexe was laid down on August 3, 1970, by then President VV Giri. The inauguration of the building was done by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 24, 1975.
Furthermore, Section Parliament Library Building talked about Rajiv Gandhi laying down the foundation stone of the building on August 15, 1987. The Bhoomi Poojan was performed by then-Speaker of Lok Sabha Shivraj V Patil on April 17, 1994, again a Congress leader.
