Members of up to 25 political parties, including the dominant Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are present at the new Parliament building’s inaugural event, which began on Sunday. The Congress, which is the main opposition party in the nation, as well as 19 other ‘like-minded’ opposition groups, will not be present. Although Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM is also skipping the ceremony, the opposition headed by the Congress did not mention it in a unified letter declaring their intention to skip the event.
Why do certain political parties boycott?
They disagree with the facility being opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi rather than President Droupadi Murmu. As the leader of the state, they contend that the President must do the honours. The parties chose not to attend the event since she was not invited, accusing the Narendra Modi administration of “disrespecting” the Presidency. The accusation has been debunked by the BJP.
Who all will be there?
Several of the 25 parties present are not members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is headed by the BJP. These include the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Janata Dal (Secular), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
Who else besides Congress and AIMIM is not present?
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Janata Dal (United), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), National Conference (NC), Revolutionary Socialist Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party (SP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Jharkhand Mukti Mor
Parties attended by the whole Parliament
382 of the 539 members of the Lok Sabha will be present for the historic event, including 301 from the BJP alone. On the other side, 131 members of the 238-seat Rajya Sabha will be in attendance, of whom 93 are from the BJP alone. The 131 members also include the five individuals who were nominated: Ranjan Gogoi, a former chief justice of India, PT Usha, a retired sports great, Ilaiyaraaja, a famed composer, and V Vijayendra Prasad.
