'Self-glorifying authoritarian' PM inaugurates new Parliament building: Congress

The Congress on Sunday (May 28) said a “self-glorifying authoritarian PM with utter disdain for Parliamentary procedures” had opened the new Parliament complex. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the building in a gala ceremony in the morning.

संसद लोगों की आवाज़ है!

प्रधानमंत्री संसद भवन के उद्घाटन को राज्याभिषेक समझ रहे हैं।

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 28, 2023

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi was treating the inauguration like a “coronation”. He tweeted soon after Modi inaugurated the building: “Parliament is the voice of the people! The prime minister is treating the inauguration of the Parliament House as a coronation,” read his tweet (translated from Hindi).

Jairam Ramesh’s tweet

On this day, May 28th:

1. Nehru, the person who did the most to nurture Parliamentary democracy in India, was cremated in 1964.

2. Savarkar, the person whose ideological ecosystem led to the killing of Mahatma Gandhi, was born in 1883.

3. The President — the first Adivasi to…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 28, 2023

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “Nehru, the person who did the most to nurture Parliamentary democracy in India, was cremated in 1964. Savarkar, the person whose ideological ecosystem led to the killing of Mahatma Gandhi, was born in 1883.”

The tweet went on to say that it is on the same day that “The President (Droupadi Murmu) — the first Adivasi to become President — is not allowed to fulfil her Constitutional duties and inaugurate the New Parliament building in 2023”.

Watch: Top 10 takeaways from Modi speech at new Parliament inauguration

“A self-glorifying authoritarian Prime Minister with utter disdain for Parliamentary procedures, who rarely attends Parliament or engages in it, inaugurates the New Parliament building in 2023,” he wrote.

Ramesh further wrote that the “fabrication of facts by Distorians and drum-beating by the media hit new lows in 2023”.

What other Congress leaders said

AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal tweeted, “At the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new Parliament building, then Hon’ble President Sh. Ramnath Kovind was kept away from the ceremony. At its inauguration, President Droupadi Murmu has been sidelined.”

At the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new Parliament building, then Hon’ble President Sh. Ramnath Kovind was kept away from the ceremony.

At its inauguration, President Droupadi Murmu has been sidelined.

It is the upper caste, anti-backward mindset of the RSS because…

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) May 28, 2023

“It is the upper caste, anti-backward mindset of the RSS because of which they are denied the respect that their high constitutional office deserves. Their deliberate exclusion shows PM Modi will use them as tokens for his electoral politics, but will not allow them to be part of such significant and historic occasions,” he wrote.

Manickam Tagore, the party’s whip in the Lok Sabha, tweeted: “Sorry… Because of One man’s ego we have not followed the Constitution of India. President of India should have inaugurated and Prime Minister should have been the Guest of Honour.”

Sorry ..
Because of One man’s ego we have not followed the Constitution of India 🇮🇳.
President of India should have inaugurated and Prime Minister should have been the Guest of Honour. #ParliamentInagurated pic.twitter.com/G6gDNvswSk

— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳✋மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) May 28, 2023

Pramod Tiwari, the Congress’ deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, said not inviting the president to do the inauguration was an insult to her as well as the tribal community.

The Congress and the BJP have been engaged in a war of words over the history of the Sengol that was installed in the new Parliament on Sunday and the inauguration of the building being done by the prime minister.

Watch: ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans echo in new Parliament as Modi arrives

Several Opposition parties have boycotted the event contending that the president and not the prime minister should have inaugurated the new building.

(With agency inputs)