Leaders of the Opposition parties on Sunday criticised the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at Prime Minister Modi saying that he is thinking of the inauguration of the new Parliament building as being a "coronation" event. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, on the other hand, said that he was happy that he didn't attend the event. NCP MP Supriya Sule termed the inauguration ceremony as being incomplete without opposition members.
Gandhi took to Twitter to take a jibe at the Prime Minister and said, "Parliament is the voice of the people! The Prime Minister is regarding the inauguration of the Parliament House as a coronation."
The NCP chief while talking to the media said, "I saw the event in the morning. I am happy I didn't go there. I am worried after seeing whatever happened there. Are we taking the country backwards? Was this event for limited people only?"
NCP MP Supriya Sule while remarked that there is no democracy in the country, "To open a new Parliament building without the Opposition makes it an incomplete event. It means there is no democracy in the country." She further added that if the ruling party had to get any bills passed on short notice then they always used to take the opposition in confidence and used to call, however, this time, neither did they call at the beginning nor at the opening.
Sule further questioned the reason behind the absence of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar who is also the Head of the Rajya Sabha. She said, "We are seeing Om Birla Ji who is the Head of the Lok Sabha but why are we not seeing the Honorable Vice President? There is a Rajya Sabha in the Parliament and who is the head of the Rajya Sabha? The Vice President of India. Even the Vice President has been neglected which is so unfortunate because it is an insult to Rajya Sabha."
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also objected to the Prime Minister inaugurating the new building saying, "It would have been better if Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla inaugurated the new Parliament House."
BJP MP Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi while reacting to opposition's comments said that all political parties should rise above politics. Talking to ANI, he said, "No political comments should be made on the day when the new Parliament building is being inaugurated today. All political parties should rise above politics and respect this."