“PM Treating Inauguration Of New Parliament Building As Coronation”

Source: PTI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said Parliament is the voice of the people but the prime minister is treating the inauguration of the new Parliament building like his “coronation”. The comment came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building.

“Parliament is the voice of the people! The Prime Minister is treating the inauguration of the Parliament House as coronation,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he inaugurated the new Parliament building, saying that a “self-glorifying authoritarian PM with utter disdain for parliamentary procedures” has opened the new complex.

Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building on Sunday morning. Taking on the PM, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “On this day, May 28th: Nehru, the person who did the most to nurture Parliamentary democracy in India, was cremated in 1964. Savarkar, the person whose ideological ecosystem led to the killing of Mahatma Gandhi, was born in 1883.” Ramesh also said that on this day President Droupadi Murmu — the first Adivasi to become President — is not allowed to fulfil her constitutional duties and inaugurate the new Parliament building.

“A self-glorifying authoritarian Prime Minister with utter disdain for Parliamentary procedures, who rarely attends Parliament or engages in it, inaugurates the New Parliament building in 2023,” he said.

In related news, thousands of police personnel were deployed and multiple layers of barricades put in place in the Lutyens’ Delhi area on Sunday as part of the security arrangement for the inauguration of the new parliament building, officials said.

Also, all entry and exit gates at the Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan stations of the Delhi Metro have been closed as part of security measures. The new parliament building is located near the Central Secretariat station which is an interchange facility between Yellow Line and Violet Line.

Representatives of 25 political parties and many dignitaries, including chief ministers and ministers, were slated to attend the inauguration.

A senior police officer said security has been stepped up by enhancing police deployment, placing multiple barricades and sufficient police pickets. Intensive patrolling is also being carried out across the national capital and its bordering areas to ensure that law and order are maintained, he said.

Meanwhile, the wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar, about two kilometres from the parliament building, said they will go ahead with their “Mahila Mahapanchayat” near the new building at any cost. Police, however, said no protester will be allowed to move towards the new building as permission has not been granted to hold the “Mahila Mahapanchayat”.

Police have already issued a traffic advisory that the New Delhi district will be treated as a controlled area and entry of vehicles will be restricted. Besides additional deployment of force, CCTV monitoring is being carried out continuously, the police said.

According to the traffic advisory, 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 Delhi traffic police urged people to plan their journey accordingly and avoid the New Delhi district from 5:30 am to 3 pm.

A police official said adequate security personnel have been deployed near the Parliament building and robust security arrangements have been made at Jantar Mantar where wrestlers and farmers have been staging a sit-in.

The ceremony to inaugurate the new Parliament building on Sunday began with an early morning havan and multi-faith prayers followed by the formal opening by Prime Minister Modi.