Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has voiced his opposition to the construction of a new Parliament building, joining the chorus of voices calling for a boycott of its inauguration. He emphasized that there is "no need" for such a structure and criticized it as an endeavour to manipulate history.
While speaking to reporters, Kumar said the new Parliament building is an attempt to 'distort' history by those who had no contribution to the freedom struggle, reported news agency PTI. Earlier, he also expressed his dismay over President Droupadi Murmu and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar not being invited to the function.
"There is no need for a new Parliament building. Those who had no contribution to the country's fight for independence are trying to distort history," Kumar was quoted as saying by PTI. He also said, “It is quite surprising that the President of India and the Vice-President, who is the chairman of Rajya Sabha, have not been invited to the inauguration programme.”
In a recent announcement, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, JD(U), declared their decision to boycott the upcoming inauguration of the new Parliament building scheduled for Sunday. As a form of protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's involvement in the event, the JD(U) stated that they will observe a day-long fast on the same day.
Meanwhile, Kumar’s party also skipped the NITI Aayog meeting that was held in Delhi on Saturday. Nitish Kumar explained his reason for not attending the meeting by stating that it took place in the morning, and he had prior commitments in Patna throughout the day. If the meeting had been scheduled for the afternoon, he would have been able to participate. “I sent a list of ministers and officials who could attend the meeting, but there was no response from the Centre. So no representative from Bihar is attending today's meeting,” Kumar was quoted as saying by PTI.