'Coronation' to 'coffin': Opposition draws analogies to slam PM over Parl opening

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, May 28

From “coronation” to “coffin”, Opposition parties found many expressions to deride the inaugural ceremony of the new Parliament building, which they boycotted.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said democracy was not just about buildings but it “functions with the participation of people”. He also attacked the government over the “forcible” removal and “manhandling” of wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar when they were trying to march towards Parliament. “The right to inaugurate the new Parliament was snatched from the President. Women players were beaten up on the streets with dictatorial force,” Kharge alleged in a tweet in Hindi.

“The three lies of BJP-RSS rulers now stand exposed before the country — Democracy, nationalism and ‘save daughter’,” Kharge wrote.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of treating the inaugural function as a coronation ceremony organised to anoint a new king. Later, following the police action on the agitating wrestlers, he said in a tweet, “Coronation is over. Arrogant king is crushing people’s voice.”

Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary, said, “A self-glorifying authoritarian Prime Minister with utter disdain for parliamentary procedures, who rarely attends Parliament or engages in it, inaugurates the new Parliament building in 2023.”

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) caused a flutter by comparing the building’s design to a “coffin”. The RJD tweeted a picture of a coffin alongside the picture of the new Parliament building with the caption “what is this?”

The BJP hit back, with its Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Modi saying that a case of treason should be registered against such people who have compared the new Parliament building to a coffin.

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “In 2024, the people of the country will bury you in this coffin.”

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi also took exception to the RJD remark and said the “coffin angle” should have been avoided by the party.

The Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress (TMC), CPI(M) and NCP are among the Opposition parties that kept away from the inaugural function to protest against the unveiling of the new building by the Prime Minister. They had said President Murmu ought to have done the honours. Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule said to open a new Parliament building without the Opposition made it an incomplete event. “It means there is no democracy in the country,” she said.

TMC leader Derek O’Brien accused the PM and the government of having “mocked and insulted Parliament”. Hurling multiple charges, O’Brien said “the PM has not answered a single question in Parliament, the number of Bills scrutinised by parliamentary committees have been reduced to 10 per cent under the present government’s tenure (from the previous 70 per cent) and the issuing of ordinances have more than doubled under the Modi government, which also saw at least eight sessions of Parliament getting adjourned before the scheduled date.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “The inauguration of the new Parliament building by the PM is against the spirit and content of the Constitution.”

Three lies of BJP-RSS stand exposed

The right to inaugurate the new Parliament was snatched from the President and women players were beaten up with dictatorial force. The three lies of BJP-RSS rulers now stand exposed — Democracy, nationalism and ‘save daughter’. — Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress president