In light of Opposition parties boycotting the inauguration of the new Parliament building in New Delhi on May 28, BJP lawmakers in Bihar on May 26 hit out at Janata Dal(U) supremo and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, pointing out how he had not given “due respect” to the Governor while inaugurating an extension to the State Assembly.
So far, 21 Opposition parties have announced their decision to boycott the inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sidelining President Droupadi Murmu.
BJP MLAs and MLCs, led by State unit president Samrat Choudhary and Legislature Party leader Vijay Kumar Sinha, staged protests on the Assembly premises and at the Annexe building of the Legislative Council.
Pointing to a plaque which showed that Mr. Nitish Kumar had inaugurated the Central Hall of the Bihar Legislative Assembly on February 6, 2019, Mr. Choudhary said, “Look at this, only the name of Chief Minister is mentioned. Why wasn’t the then Governor invited to inaugurate it? This is the dual character of Janata Dal (U) and Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders who never invited Governors to their programme, and now they are raising a finger on the inauguration of the new Parliament building.”
The BJP leaders showed another plaque outside the Annexe building of the Legislative Council which said that it was inaugurated by then Chief Minister Lalu Prasad on June 15, 1994. The leaders pointed out that the Governor’s name was missing.
Mr. Vijay Kumar Sinha, on the other hand, showed the centenary memorial pillar which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 12, 2022, when the JD(U) and the BJP were allies. “Look at this nameplate, the name of PM, CM and the then Governor Fagu Chauhan is mentioned. This is the way BJP treats everyone equally not like RJD who were opposing the candidature of Droupadi Murmu for President. The RJD did not vote in favour of tribal women. The JD(U) never invited then Governor Ram Nath Kovind during the inauguration of any building in the State. Nitish Kumar government is anti-Dalit and anti-tribal,” Mr. Sinha said.
The BJP leaders condemned the move to deploy a large contingent of police personnel on the Assembly premises. “The way police personnel were deployed it was as if we were coming to rob the Assembly and we are criminals not MLAs,” BJP MLA Niraj Bablu said.
For BJP, democracy means Narendra Modi: JD(U)
JD(U) national president Rajiv Rajan, alias Lalan Singh, said the party would boycott the inauguration.
“JD(U) will not take part in the inauguration of the new Parliament building. The President is the custodian of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha as per the Constitution, not the Prime Minister. It is a different matter that the PM can inaugurate anything. He even inaugurated the drain of Varanasi. Has anyone except the PM shown the green flags of the new train? The PM does not allow anyone to inaugurate any new things. For BJP, democracy means Narendra Modi. They want to change the history of the country and let me say that when BJP would be thrown out of power, the new Parliament building would be used for some other purposes,” Mr. Singh said.
