Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament by offering prayers as Hindu priests chanted religious hymns.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi carries a royal golden scepter during the inaugural ceremony of the new parliament building in New Delhi on May 28, 2023. | AP PhotoNEW DELHI — India’s major opposition parties on Sunday boycotted the inauguration of a new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a rare show of unity against his Hindu nationalist ruling party, which has ruled for nine years and is seeking a third term in next year’s elections.
“India is the mother of democracy,” Modi said, as lawmakers thumped their desks. “Several years of foreign rule stole our pride from us. Today, India has left behind that colonial mindset.” Opposition parties said in a statement Wednesday that Modi’s decision to inaugurate the building was “a grave insult” to India’s democracy, because the government had “disqualified, suspended and muted” opposition lawmakers while passing “controversial legislation” with little debate.
India’s powerful Home Minister Amit Shah said the opposition had politicized the event. Other leaders from Modi’s party said the boycott was an insult to the prime minister. A year earlier, a group of 60 former civil servants wrote an open letter to Modi to highlight the architectural value of the old Parliament and said the new plan would “irrevocably” destroy the area’s cultural heritage.
Modi’s critics and opposition leaders have questioned the scepter’s historicity and said the emblem is appropriate for a monarchy, not a democracy.
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