Twenty-five political parties have said they will attend the opening ceremony of the new Parliament building on Sunday, while 20 opposition parties, led by the Congress, have announced a boycott of the historic function, saying the President hasn’t been invited.
But could the Congress have done this differently? Imagine this scenario. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had called a joint press conference with the leaders of all other 19 parties in attendance. There, the Congress and other parties could have said that they will attend the Parliament opening function as they are themselves a part of the august house of MPs.
But to score their point in a more astute political way, they could have said they were ‘pained’ by the point that President Droupadi Murmu was not on the invitee list. The Congress could have said that the Centre has erred in not inviting Murmu and it would be in the fitness of things that the Centre revisits the decision. The parties may have asked for the invite sent out to them to be amended and the President’s name added in a revised invite.
This could have thrown the ball in the Centre’s court, especially if the Congress had cited how Murmu became President largely due to the BJP’s support. But by announcing a boycott of the event and adopting a confrontationist approach, much like the policy of Rahul Gandhi, the larger opposition seems to have ceded all space on the all-important day to the BJP. As seen in the past, the Modi-led regime could care no less and would dominate the grand show on Sunday – complete with the latest political narrative on the Sengol.
Even if the government had stuck to its guns and stuck to the schedule as decided, opposition leaders could have gone to the Parliament function and, after emerging from the building at the end, made their point on TV cameras that though the new Parliament was welcome, they had ‘missed the presence’ of the President on the occasion. This may have helped the Congress score some political brownie points.
Non-NDA parties like Kumaraswamy’s JDS, the Akali Dal, YSRCP, TDP, BSP and Biju Janata Dal seems to have realised the same by choosing to join the Parliament inauguration function, saying the inauguration of the new Parliament is a “moment of pride”. To be sure, the President’s message will be read out during the function.
The BJP, in fact, has turned around the debate, asking why did the UPA-led parties put up a candidate against Droupadi Murmu during the presidential polls. The BJP has termed the Congress attitude as “non-democratic” and blamed it on Congress not accepting Modi as a democratically elected PM. BJP MPs would reiterate the same on Sunday.
Ultimately, the 20 opposition parties will be attending the next parliament session in the new Sansad. Politics is not always a boxing match. Most times, it’s about scoring one’s point astutely.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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