The controversy surrounding the opening of the new Parliament building, which is scheduled for May 28, appears to have no end in sight. Now, 270 distinguished individuals have penned an open letter denouncing the opposition’s call to boycott the opening ceremony of the new Parliament building. Former officials, diplomats, military officers, and academicians are among those who authored the letter.
The letter highlighted that the inauguration of the new Parliament building is a moment of pride for the entire country as well as all Indians and accused the opposition of having “skeletal arguments, immature, whimsy and hollow reasoning and, most importantly, non-democratic posturing.”
The letter referred to Narendra Modi as “the democratically elected Prime Minister of India, who has inspired a billion Indians with his authenticity, inclusive policies, strategic vision, commitment to deliver and most of all, his Indianness is unpalatable to the Congress and other opposition parties with a similar worldview.”
It said that the reason for this is because the parties driven by the ideology of family-first cannot reconcile with an India-first strategy brand of politics. “So naturally all the family first parties either structurally or in thought have come together to boycott all that represents India.”
It charged, “Those that are boycotting the inauguration of the Parliament by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just don’t get how they are the ones that are sucking the soul of democracy. They are following their own formulaic undemocratic, routine and baseless boycotts.”
The staggering number of recent non-partisan events of the Parliament that the opposition has boycotted was also mentioned. “In 2017, the Congress party decided to boycott the Parliament’s midnight session to launch GST, a truly federal innovation and the only of its kind in post-Independence India. In 2020, the opposition parties boycotted Lok Sabha to support eight Rajya Sabha members who were suspended for despicable unruly behaviour.”
The incident that occurred in 2021 when the Congress party and the opposition boycotted ‘Samvidhan Divas’ was also brought up. “This being the second time in a row that the Opposition Parties had boycotted the President’s Parliamentary Address.”
It pointed out that Congress conjured up yet another fictitious concern of inflation during the 2022 Monsoon Session and added the superfluous subject of GST to it. “One cannot forget the same very gang boycotting the joint session of Parliament on Constitution Day, honouring Baba Saheb Ambedkar.”
According to the letter, the opposition does not comprehend that engaging in its routine behaviour of brandishing placards and yelling slogans, disrespecting the country’s most important institutions, and even using commonplace objects like milk packets to illustrate its disapproval is what is “authoritarian” and is “a grave insult and direct assault on our democracy.”
“They just don’t get that they are the ones side-lining the Hon’ble President Draupadi Murmu. In 2023, they boycotted her customary speech to the joint session of the parliament ahead of the Union Budget, 13 opposition parties, who took part in the march, also boycotted the Speaker’s customary tea gathering,” it proclaimed.
It also brought up the disrespectful remarks of Congress leader and Berhampore MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who insulted the President by calling her “Rashtrapatni.”
It further read, “They don’t get how abysmally they demean their own political stature. The inauguration of the Parliament building is a proud moment for the entire country. And, it is a matter of extreme despondency in the context of Indian democracy that the Congress Party, which calls itself the oldest political party has decided to needlessly cry foul.”
“In 2012, the then Speaker Meira Kumar observed that the Parliament, with its cracks and absence of emergency measures, was ‘silently weeping.’ Now, do they think that the old building is bulging with efficient opulence,” it questioned and added, “Maybe they do because they just don’t get it.”
In a scathing attack on Congress, it commented that the party’s arrogance and anti-democratic attitude have consistently impeded the advancement of the country. “Of course, to expect any largesse of heart or soul or to be imbued simply by the pride of being an India is expecting too much of the Congress party. They, as has been belaboured, just don’t get it.”
It observed, “But what the Congress party also does not get, along with its allies, is that the Indian people get it. If only the Congress and its allies would ponder deeper, would they get that it is not the soul of democracy that has been lost but that the opposition’s popularity which has been lost.”
They alluded to themselves as “the concerned citizens of India” who “condemn the non-democratic and posturing of the opposition parties” and committed to support the nation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Indians.
The coordinator, Ms Bhaswati Mukherjee, a former ambassador, signed off the letter at the end.
On May 28, a seven-hour programme will be held to honour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of the new Parliament building. A puja and a havan will commence the ritual, and PM Modi will deliver an address at its conclusion.
The new structure, which is a part of Central Vista‘s revivification as the country’s power corridor, has drawn criticism, and 21 opposition parties have chosen to boycott the event. They contend that by discrediting the president, the PM’s inauguration constituted a serious insult and an outright attack on democracy.
