Lucknow, 25 May: Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, lashed out at Opposition parties on Thursday for skipping the opening of the new Parliament building, calling it a “disgusting” attempt to stir up controversy.
His statements come a day after 20 opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, and AAP, planned a boycott of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s May 28 opening of the edifice. They said that the prime minister’s choice to inaugurate it alone, “completely sidelining President Droupadi Murmu,” is “not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy that demands a commensurate response.”
According to the chief minister, this is not the first time a prime minister has been a “sakshi” (witness) to an inauguration at the Parliament complex.
Adityanath stated that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had previously opened the Parliament annex and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had laid the foundation stone for the Parliament library.
In response to the boycott declaration, he stated, “In the history of independent India, the date of May 28 will be recorded as a glorious day when the prime minister will gift the nation the new Parliament building. This will be a historic occasion. Instead of elevating and glorifying this occasion, remarks from Congress and other opposition parties are depressing and irresponsible. This is eroding democracy,” the chief minister remarked in a video posted to his official Twitter account.
People in the country and throughout the world are proud of “India being the largest democracy,” he added, further adding Prime Minister Modi has given the country a new identity. “Disgusting attempts are made to create a controversy on the glorious moment,” Adityanath remarked of the opposition’s stance. ?Such things, I believe, will not be tolerated in the country. The new Parliament building was designed with a progressive approach in mind… today’s needs and the next 100 years in mind,” he concluded.
