President Should Inaugurate New Parliament Building, Not PM: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the President of India should inaugurate the new Parliament building and not the prime minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the newly constructed building on May 28.

Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said, "The President should inaugurate the new Parliament House and not the Prime Minister". The inauguration date coincides with the birth anniversary of Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar and several Opposition parties have targeted the government over it.

The Congress has called it a "complete insult" to the country's founding fathers. The Congress has termed the project as ‘personal vanity project of the PM’.

Om Birla met Modi this week and invited him to inaugurate the new building. "A complete insult to all our Founding Fathers and Mothers. A total rejection of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Bose, et al. A blatant repudiation of Dr Ambedkar," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in reply.

Opposition leaders said Modi is the head of the government and not the head of the legislature. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked why Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman won't inaugurate it. "Why should the PM inaugurate Parliament? He is head of the executive, not legislature. We have separation of powers & Hon’ble @loksabhaspeaker & RS Chair could have been inaugurated. It’s made with public money, why is the PM behaving like his “friends” have sponsored it from their private funds?" Owaisi tweeted.

“While the Prime Minister is the head of the government, the President is the head of the Indian state and not inviting her for the inauguration is a blatant insult and undermines her position,” CPI general secretary D. Raja said.