India’s main opposition parties boycotted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of a new parliament building on Sunday in a rare show of unity against his Hindu nationalist ruling party, which has been in power for nine years and is seeking a third term in India. next year’s general elections.
Modi inaugurated the new parliament in the capital New Delhi, offering prayers as Hindu priests sang religious hymns at the start of the ceremony. Opposition parties criticized the event, saying the prime minister had sidelined President Droupadi Murmu, who only has ceremonial powers but is the head of state and highest constitutional authority.
“May this iconic building be a cradle of empowerment, igniting dreams and nurturing them into reality,” Modi tweeted shortly after the inauguration.
Senior ministers from Modi’s party and leaders of his allies attended the inauguration, but at least 19 opposition parties skipped the event, which coincided with the birth anniversary of a Hindu nationalist ideologue.
Opposition parties said in a statement on Wednesday that Modi’s «decision to inaugurate the building himself» was «a grave insult» to India’s democracy, adding that the ruling government had «disqualified, suspended and silenced to opposition lawmakers by passing «controversial legislation» with little debate.
“When the soul of democracy has been sucked out of parliament, we find no value in a new building,” the parties said.
India’s powerful Home Minister Amit Shah said the opposition had politicized the event and other leaders of Modi’s party called the boycott «an insult to the prime minister.»
The new triangular-shaped building, built at an estimated cost of $120 million, is part of a $2.8 billion renovation of British-era offices and residences in central New Delhi that will also include building blocks to house ministries. and government departments, and Modi’s new private residence. The entire project, called “Central View,” spans 1.9 miles.
The project was announced in 2019 and Modi laid the foundation a year later, in December 2020.
The plan has come under intense criticism from opposition politicians, architects and heritage experts, many of whom have called it environmentally irresponsible, a threat to cultural heritage and too expensive.
Outrage grew in 2021 when at least 12 opposition parties questioned the timing of the project, saying it was built as the country faced a devastating surge in coronavirus cases. They called the renovation Modi’s «vanity project» and said its construction was prioritized over the loss of life and livelihoods during the pandemic.
A year earlier, a group of 60 former officials wrote an open letter to Modi to highlight the architectural value of the old parliament building and said the new plan would «irrevocably» destroy the area’s cultural heritage.
Modi’s government has said the renovation was necessary because the older building «showed signs of wear and tear» and that the new design «combines the country’s heritage and traditions.»
The newly opened building sits directly opposite India’s old Parliament, a circular structure designed by British architects in the early 20th century. The new four-storey building has a total of 1,272 seats in two chambers, almost 500 more than the old building.
During the televised ceremony on Sunday, Modi prostrated himself before a royal golden scepter, then installed it near the speaker’s chair.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has said the scepter symbolized the transfer of power when it was presented to the country’s first prime minister on the eve of India’s independence from Britain in 1947. Modi’s critics and opposition leaders they have questioned the historicity of the scepter and said that the emblem is appropriate. to a monarchy, not a democracy.
Modi’s supporters see the new parliament as the prime minister’s attempt to remake India’s power corridor and unravel the country’s colonial legacy.
Modi last year inaugurated a renovated colonial avenue in the heart of New Delhi that is used for ceremonial military parades. The boulevard was previously called «Rajpath» or Kingsway, but Modi’s group changed it to «Kartavya Path,» or road to duty, arguing that the old name was a «symbol of slavery» that «had been erased forever.» «.
Many of these moves by the ruling Modi government have come under heavy criticism, but the controversy over the new parliament building has been the most contentious.
It comes just months after opposition leaders protested the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Parliament in a libel case over comments he made about Modi’s surname.
Hours before the inauguration of the new parliament, the general secretary of the Congress party, Jairam Ramesh, again criticized Modi.
“A self-proud authoritarian PM with complete contempt for parliamentary procedures, rarely attending or participating in Parliament, inaugurates the New Parliament building in 2023,” he tweeted.