Congress slams PM after he inaugurates new Parliament building; calls him 'authoritarian'

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the latter inaugurated the new Parliament building and called him "self-glorifying authoritarian PM".

Over a dozen of political parties including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, have 'boycotted' the inauguration of the new Parliament building, accusing the PM of "sidelining" President Droupadi Murmu.

Taking a swipe at PM, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while taking to twitter wrote, "Parliament is the voice of the people. The PM is considering the inauguration of the Parliament building as a coronation".

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संसद लोगों की आवाज़ है!

प्रधानमंत्री संसद भवन के उद्घाटन को राज्याभिषेक समझ रहे हैं।

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 28, 2023 >

"A self-glorifying authoritarian PM with utter 'disdain' for Parliamentary procedures, who rarely attends Parliament or engages in it, inaugurates the new Parliament building," Congress general secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh wrote on the micro-blogging site, attacking Modi.

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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 >

The Congress MP added, "The President, the first Adivasi to become President is not allowed to fulfil her Constitutional duties and inaugurate the New Parliament building in 2023."

Echoing a similar sentiment, Congress general secretary in-charge Organisation, KC Venugopal in a tweet said, 'At the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new Parliament building, then President Ram Nath 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 of which they are denied the respect that their high Constitutional office deserves."

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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 >

"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," Venugopal added.

Earlier, the Opposition in a joint statement had said , "Undemocratic acts are not new to the PM, who has relentlessly hollowed out the Parliament.When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the Parliament, we find no value in a new building.'

The PM had laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament on December 10,2020. (UNI)