JD(U) spokesman hits out at RS Dy Chairman for attending new Parliament inauguration

JD(U) chief spokesman Neeraj Kumar on Monday lashed out at Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh for attending the inauguration of the new Parliament House despite a call by his party to boycott it.

In a strongly worded statement, Kumar deplored the journalist-turned-politician’s participation in a function where “even your Chairman, the Honourable Vice President, was not present”.

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“The party had sent you to the Rajya Sabha in recognition of your contributions to journalism. But when a dark chapter in the history of parliamentary democracy in the country, you traded intellectual integrity for your high office,” Kumar said.

At least 20 Opposition parties had boycotted the inauguration ceremony in protest against the central government’s decision to let Prime Minister Narendra Modi and not President Droupadi Murmu inaugurate the new Parliament building.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the party’s supreme leader, had defended the boycott of the function terming it as “an attempt to change history by those who had made no contribution to the freedom struggle”.

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“It is for the top leadership to decide what action to take in view of your participation despite the party having decided to boycott. But future generations will what to make of your action that was unbecoming of a person of your stature,” the JD(U) spokesman said.
Serving his second consecutive tenure in the Rajya Sabha, which will end next year, Harivansh has been the Deputy Chairman since 2018, when he became only the third non-Congress MP to occupy the post.

The 66-year-old had served as a media advisor to the then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar before serving as editor of Prabhat Khabar, one of the leading Hindi newspapers of Jharkhand and Bihar.

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The JD(U) pulled out of the BJP-led NDA last year and has since been a part of Mahagathbandhan, which includes RJD, Congress and the Left.

(With inputs from agencies)