Despite the massive furore over the exclusion of President Droupadi Murmu from the inauguration of the new Parliament Building on May 28, the Biju Janata Dal on Wednesday said it had decided to take part in the opening.
The BJD’s decision was keenly awaited as Opposition parties have aggressively brought the issue of the President being sidelined to the fore. Since Ms. Murmu hails from Odisha and the BJD draws its strength from strong regionalism, political analysts were predicting that it would be a difficult choice for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s party.
“The President of India is the Head of the Indian State. The Parliament represents the 1.4 billion people of India. Both the institutions are symbols of Indian democracy and draw their authority from the Constitution of India. Their authority and stature should always be safeguarded,” said Sasmit Patra, BJD’s national spokesperson, in a statement.
