Rahul Gandhi Joins Opposition's Call, Says President Should Inaugurate New Parliament House, Not PM

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to inaugurate the new Parliament building, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday joined calls by the Opposition by stating it should be the President, and not the Prime Minister, who carries out the inauguration ceremony.

The newly-constructed Parliament building will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi n May 28, according to an invitation extended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla during their meeting last Thursday, as confirmed by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said, ”The President should inaugurate the new Parliament House and not the Prime Minister”.

The government faces criticism from opposition parties as the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28 aligns with the birth anniversary of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.

The Congress has called it a ”complete insult” to the country’s founding fathers. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, “A complete insult to all our Founding Fathers and Mothers. A total rejection of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Bose, et al. A blatant repudiation of Dr. Ambedkar.”

The comment was in response to BJP IT department head Amit Malviya’s tweet. “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on 28th May 2023, which is also the 140th birth anniversary of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the great son of India,” Malviya tweeted.

“Veer Savarkar was born on 28th May 1883 in Bhagur. The new Parliament is designed to last at least 150 years. The current premise has been in existence for 100 years now,” he added.

Some opposition parties also asked why would the prime minister, who is the head of the executive and not the legislature, inaugurate it.

According to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the newly constructed Parliament building has the capacity to comfortably seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha chamber and 300 members in the Rajya Sabha chamber. In the event of a joint sitting of both Houses, the Lok Sabha chamber can accommodate a total of 1,280 members.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament building on December 10, 2020, while the existing Parliament building was completed in 1927.