New Delhi: The Opposition’s criticism of the inauguration of the new Parliament building as being ‘unconstitutional’ met with sharp responses from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, snowballing into a full-fledged argument on Twitter.
Opposition parties have criticised the Centre for alleged breach of Constitutional propriety for getting Prime Minister Modi to inaugurate the new building instead of President Draupadi Murmu, since she is the head of Parliament. Meanwhile, the BJP has accused the Congress of playing “cheap politics” at a time of “national pride.”
From Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, to Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, here’s your primer on who said what:
Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress national president: “It looks like the Modi Govt has ensured election of President of India from the Dalit and the Tribal communities only for electoral reasons… The President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu is not being invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament Building,” Kharge stated on Twitter.
“The Office of the President of India is reduced to tokenism under the BJP-RSS Government,” he alleged.
Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP: “Articles 60 and 111 of the Constitution of India make it clear that the President is the head of parliament. It was bizarre enough that the PM performed the ground-breaking ceremony & puja when construction began, but totally incomprehensible (& arguably unconstitutional) for him and not the President to inaugurate the building.”
Sanjay Singh, AAP MP: “You make a tribal woman the President of India for political gains but do not invite her to inaugurate the new Parliament building…Could there be a bigger insult to a president than this?”
Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM national president: “Why should PM inaugurate Parliament? He is head of the executive, not legislature… why is PM behaving like his “friends” have sponsored it from their private funds?”
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena UBT MP: “The Hon. President is the Head of the Legislature, which is above the head of the Government ie the PM of India. The new parliament inauguration should be done by the President as the protocol demands. The BJP blinded by power has become a fountainhead of constitutional immorality.”
Derek O’Brien, TMC MP: “Parliament is not just a new building; it is an establishment with old traditions, values, precedents and rules — it is the foundation of Indian democracy. Prime Minister Modi doesn’t get that.”
D Raja, CPI general secretary: “PM leads the executive organ of the state and Parliament is the legislative organ. It would have been appropriate for Smt. Droupadi Murmu as Head of the State to inaugurate the new Parliament. Obsession with self-image & cameras trumps decency & norms when it comes to Modi Ji!”
Here’s how the BJP responded:
Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas: “From criticising the New Parliament Building & questioning its very necessity despite many of them advocating for it before but not executing it, Congress President & other worthies are now shifting the goalpost by generously misquoting an article a day from the Constitution!” Puri wrote in a Twitter thread on Tuesday morning.
Responding to censure about the inauguration’s date falling on VD Savarkar’s birth anniversary, Puri said, “They should feel better if they remember Oct 24, 1975 the day when Smt Indira Gandhi inaugurated the Parliament Annexe! Or August 15, 1987 when Sh Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation of the Parliament Library!”
Gaurav Bhatia, BJP national spokesperson: “Those making accusations of unnecessary expenditure should be asked about the Z+ security given to members of the Gandhi family for many years even when they held no Constitutional post,” Bhatia told a news channel on Monday.
The row continued, with Priyanka Chaturvedi and Congress MP Manish Tewari issuing counters to Puri’s statement soon after he tweeted it on Tuesday.
Chaturvedi challenged Puri’s justification of the date of inauguration, while Tewari suggested that it is not the Congress but the Union minister who needs to read the Constitution more carefully.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28.
Agencies

KR Desk