The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Tuesday that it will not attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's May 28 opening of the new Parliament building because it would be disrespectful to President Droupadi Murmu.
Sanjay Singh, an AAP Rajya Sabha member, said on Twitter: “It is a grave disrespect to her Excellency President Droupadi Murmu not to invite her to the opening of Parliament House. The Dalit, tribal, and derived classes of society are also being insulted by this. AAP will not attend the inauguration in protest at Prime Minister Modi's decision to not invite the President.
The Trinamool Congress had earlier in the day said it would not attend the opening of the new Parliament building.
“Parliament is not just a new building; it is an establishment with old traditions, values, precedents, and rules – it is the foundation of Indian democracy,” Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien said in a tweet. PM Modi is not aware of it. He believes that Sunday's dedication of the new structure is all about him, me, and me. So don't think about us.
The Trinamool has previously voiced concerns over the schedule of the new Parliament building's opening. The leadership believes that the new building's dedication should take place on August 15 in honor of Independence Day rather than May 28 in honor of RSS patriarch V.D. Savarkar's birth anniversary.
The Union government, according to the Trinamool leadership, has also kept the opposition in the dark about what would happen to the former Parliament building.
Even Congress is probably going to skip the opening of the new structure.
According to party insiders, a decision will probably be made on Wednesday or Thursday.
In response to Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday, Congress General Secretary and Communication In-Charge Jairam Ramesh remarked, “SUV – Self-Usurped Vishwaguru – has already annexed the Parliament for self-aggrandizement. However, there must be a fundamental distinction between opening a library that gets little usage and an Annexe where officials work, and opening the Temple of Democracy's sanctum as well.
He was reacting to Puri's statement that Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi opened the Parliament Library in 1987 after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi opened the Parliament Annexe in August 1975.
After former Congress head Rahul Gandhi insisted that President Murmu inaugurate the new Parliament House rather than PM Modi, a dispute has arisen over its opening.
In response to Prime Minister Modi's May 28 opening of the New Parliament House, a verbal battle between the Congress and the BJP has broken out.
