New Parliament Building Inauguration LIVE: New Sansad Will Make Every Indian Proud, Says PM Modi; Delhi Police Issues Traffic Advisory

Read more

With just a day left for the inauguration of the new Parliament building, special traffic arrangements will be put in place in the national capital in view of the inauguration of the new sansad. Delhi police issued a  traffic advisory, according to which, the New Delhi district will be treated as a controlled area. Only public transport vehicles, civil service aspirants, bonafide residents, labelled vehicles and emergency vehicles will be allowed to move in the New Delhi area, the advisory stated.

Amid the controversy over the inauguration of the new Parliament Building by PM Modi, the Congress has once again hit back at the BJP, saying that it is the ruling party which is sabotaging the Parliamentary conventions and the Constitution of the country. Addressing the media, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said, “The BJP is entirely sabotaging the traditions of the country.”

Pointing out the traditions of Parliament, the Congress leader said “The President of India is the part and parcel of the Parliamentary system and the Parliament”.

“They are totally ignoring the President (Droupadi Murmu), who is the first woman tribal President. Then, they are blaming the Congress and the entire country is witnessing that the BJP is sabotaging the Parliamentary conventions and even the Constitution of India. They don’t have a moral right to criticise Congress for boycotting the inauguration of Parliament,” Venugopal said, slamming the BJP.

Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad came in support of the BJP-led Central government and said all parliamentarians should welcome the construction of a new Parliament building. The former Congress leader, however, added that the idea of the construction of a new Parliament building was first mooted during the time of the PV Narasimha Rao government, but was later sent to cold storage.

“I have no opposition to it,” he said.

Azad also stressed the need for the restoration of the “old India” based on the idea of communal harmony and brotherhood.

PM Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the new four-storey Parliament building on May 28.

The issue snowballed into a major controversy, with the opposition parties arguing “President Murmu (head of the state) and not PM Modi (head of the government), should perform the inauguration”.

As many as 20 opposition parties including the Congress have announced their boycott of the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Modi. On the other hand, 25 parties have said they will participate in the inauguration and these include seven non-NDA parties.

The BSP, Shiromani Akali Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), YSR Congress, BJD and TDP are the seven non-NDA parties. The presence of these seven parties, which together account for 50 MPs in the Lok Sabha, will be a major relief for the BJP-led NDA. Their participation will also help the NDA blunt the Opposition’s charge that it is all a government event.

Nineteen Opposition parties, including the Congress, Left, TMC, Samajwadi Party (SP) and AAP, have jointly announced the boycott, saying they find no value in a new building when the “soul of democracy has been sucked out”. Separately, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said if Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla does not inaugurate the new Parliament building, his party would not attend the event.