India’s new parliament is about to be inaugurated this weekend amid a political row as 19 opposition events say they’ll boycott the ceremony.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the constructing on Sunday.

Leaders of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have accused the opposition of “playing political games”.

On Wednesday, 19 events – together with the primary opposition Congress – issued a statement saying their “collective decision” to boycott the inauguration ceremony.

They stated that whereas the opening was “a momentous occasion”, Mr Modi’s “decision to inaugurate the building by himself” was “a grave insult [and] a “direct assault” on India’s democracy.

The statement also mentioned that opposition MPs had been “disqualified, suspended and muted” while “controversial legislations” were passed with little debate.

“When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the parliament, we discover no worth in a brand new constructing,” the events added.

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah said that each one political events had been invited for the ceremony, and requested the opposition to not politicise the occasion.

“The authorities has requested all to be current. Everyone will act based on their very own emotions,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Relations between the governing BJP and most opposition parties are strained, often leading to an impasse during parliament sessions. Recently, opposition leaders protested after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from parliament after he was sentenced to jail in a defamation case.

Leaders from the governing National Democratic Alliance, led by the BJP, criticised the opposition statement, calling it “an egregious insult to our democracy and to their elected representatives”. They also asked the opposition to “take into consideration the nation and never particular person political good points”.

Opposition leaders have also criticised the government’s choice of date for the ceremony, which coincides with the birth anniversary of Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar.

Not all opposition parties are on the same page on the matter – some regional parties such as the Biju Janata Dal and the YSR Congress Party will attend the ceremony.

The new parliament constructing – which is a part of the federal government’s formidable venture to develop the Central Vista power corridor in capital Delhi – has been steeped in controversy from the outset.

Many opposition politicians, environmentalists and civil society groups had criticised the project for its high cost, and alleged that the government had not consulted other lawmakers and the public. They had also questioned the government’s decision to build a new parliament building instead of upgrading the old one.

The authorities, nonetheless, stated that the brand new parliament was necessary because the older constructing was “exhibiting indicators of misery and over utilization”.

The new building – designed by HCP Design, Planning and Management and constructed by Tata Projects – has increased seating capacity and is built at at an estimated cost of 9.7bn rupees ($117.1m, £94.2m).

In 2020, the Congress had additionally boycotted the muse stone-laying occasion of the brand new parliament, criticising the federal government for holding it at a time when farmers were protesting towards three controversial new legal guidelines.

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