'No Need For New Parliament Building. An Attempt To...': Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

JD(U) said it will observe a day-long fast on the day of inauguration to protest the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Amid the growing call for a boycott of the inauguration of the new Parliament building, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Saturday that there is "no need" for a new Parliament building. While speaking to reporters, Kumar said the new Parliament building is an attempt to 'distort' history by those who had no contribution to the freedom struggle, reported news agency PTI. Earlier, he also expressed his dismay over President Droupadi Murmu and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar not being invited to the function.

"There is no need for a new Parliament building. Those who had no contribution to the country's fight for independence are trying to distort history," Kumar was quoted as saying by PTI.

He also said, “It is quite surprising that the President of India and the Vice-President, who is the chairman of Rajya Sabha, have not been invited to the inauguration programme.”

Kumar has announced his party will boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building on Sunday. His party JD(U) said it will observe a day-long fast on the day of inauguration to protest the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While talking to reporters, the party's state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha said, "JD(U) strongly holds that the president is an important part of the country's parliamentary system.”

"As the president, Droupadi Murmu holds the highest constitutional post in the country and she should have been invited by the Narendra Modi government to inaugurate the new Parliament building," Kushwaha further added.

Meanwhile, Kumar’s party also skipped the NITI Aayog meeting that was held in Delhi on Saturday.

Speaking on his decision to skip the meeting, Kumar said, “It was in the morning and I had other engagements in Patna during the day. Therefore I could not go to Delhi. Had the meeting been held in the afternoon, I would have attended it."

“I sent a list of ministers and officials who could attend the meeting, but there was no response from the Centre. So no representative from Bihar is attending today's meeting,” Kumar was quoted as saying by PTI.