PATNA: Bihar’s ruling JD(U) on Friday said its leaders and workers would hold a daylong fast before the life-size statue of Babsaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar near the Patna high court here on May 28 to protest the inauguration of new Parliament House by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the same day.
The chief minister Nitish Kumar’s party has already announced its decision to abstain from the new Parliament House’s inauguration programme by the PM, demanding inauguration of the new building by the President Droupadi Murmu.
"JD(U) strongly believes that the President of India happens to be an important part of the country’s parliamentary system. As the President Droupadi Murmu holds the highest constitutional post in the country, she should have been invited by the Narendra Modi government to inaugurate the new Parliament building in New Delhi. But PM Modi himself is going to inaugurate the new Parliament building, ignoring the moral values," JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha said while addressing a press conference at the party office here.
Kushwaha further alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre was trying to insult President Murmu by not inviting her for the inauguration, mainly because she is a tribal and a woman.
Kushwaha said a large number of the JD(U) leaders and workers would assemble before Ambedkar’s statue near the high court on May 28 and stage daylong fast to register their protest against the Centre’s decision about the inauguration of the new Parliament house by the PM.
JD(U)'s state treasurer and MLC Lalan Kumar Saraf, MLC Neeraj Kumar and the state general secretary (headquarters) Basudev Kushwaha also addressed the press conference.
Earlier in the day, the state JD(U)’s chief spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar assailed the opposition BJP for comparing the President of India with the state governors on the issue of inauguration of legislative buildings.
“The presidents are elected by the members of the Parliament and state assemblies, while the governors are nominated. An ‘elected president’ cannot be compared with a ‘nominated governor,” Neeraj said while addressing a press conference here.
Earlier the state BJP leaders had questioned why CM Nitish Kumar had not invited Bihar governor for inauguration of the ‘central hall’ in the Bihar assembly when Nitish’s party JD(U) had been demanding inauguration of a new parliamentary house by the President of India.
Neeraj also questioned why a ‘central hall’ like the existing ‘Sansad Bhavan’, has not been built in the new parliament house. JD(U) leader said the BJP should explain what its intention was behind not keeping the provision of a central hall in the new Parliament house.
