“The inauguration of a new Parliament building is a momentous occasion. Despite our belief that the government is threatening democracy, and our disapproval of the autocratic manner in which the new Parliament was built, we were open to sinking our differences and marking this occasion. However, Prime Minister Modi’s decision to inaugurate the new Parliament building by himself, completely sidelining President Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response,” the events stated in a joint assertion.

Among the signatories of the assertion are the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the DMK, the Janata Dal (United, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Muslim League, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the National Conference, the Kerala Congress (M), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

The events stated Article 79 of the Constitution of India states, “There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People.”

They added within the assertion, “The President is not only the Head of State in India, but also an integral part of the Parliament. She summons, prorogues, and addresses the Parliament. She must assent for an Act of Parliament to take effect. In short, the Parliament cannot function without the President. Yet, the Prime Minister has decided to inaugurate the new Parliament building without her. This undignified act insults the high office of the President, and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution. It undermines the spirit of inclusion which saw the nation celebrate its first woman Adivasi President.”

The events stated that “undemocratic acts are not new to the Prime Minister, who has relentlessly hollowed out the Parliament”.

“Opposition Members of Parliament have been disqualified, suspended and muted when they raised the issues of the people of India. MPs from the Treasury benches have disrupted Parliament. Many controversial legislations, including the three farm laws, have been passed with almost no debate, and Parliamentary Committees have been practically made defunct,” they stated.

“The new Parliament building has been built at great expense during a once-in-a-century pandemic with no consultation with the people of India or MPs, for whom it is apparently being built. When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the Parliament, we find no value in a new building. We announce our collective decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building. We will continue to fight — in letter, in spirit, and in substance — against this authoritarian Prime Minister and his government, and take our message directly to the people of India,” learn the assertion.

The Congress and a number of other Opposition events skipped the foundation-laying ceremony of the brand new Parliament constructing in December 2020 too. The newest boycott name gathered tempo beginning Tuesday after the TMC and the AAP introduced their resolution to skip the occasion following a gathering between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Tuesday. Kejriwal met Mamata to hunt her help towards the Centre’s ordinance on management of administrative providers within the capital. The CPI and the CPI(M) additionally introduced on Tuesday their resolution to boycott the occasion.