New Delhi [India], May 27 : Slamming the Opposition parties for boycotting the inauguration event of the new Parliament building, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar called this "petty politics" of the worst level.
Stating that this is the first "non-colonial" Parliament built after independence, Chandrasekhar said that no MP with "common sense" would refuse to participate in the festival.
Speaking to ANI, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "This is the first time India has got a Parliament, which is not colonial. It is the Parliament of the country and a shining symbol of our democracy. For parties to remain outside of that, which MP with common sense would not participate in the celebration of the first parliament built after independence and which is not made by the British?"
"This is petty politics of the worst level, it is the falling of politics even beyond what I would call petty politics. It is desperation, frustration and the absence of anything else that they have to say," he added.
Reacting to the row over 'Sengol' being placed in the Parliament, Chandrasekhar accused Congress party of "erasing" its history from school textbooks.
"The controversy is that the Congress government hid that fact from the nation that when you talk about independence and the Tryst with Destiny speech of Pandit Nehru, we never learnt anywhere in our school that there was a ceremony where a Sengol was handed over to Jawaharlal Nehru as a symbol of righteousness and just rule in a 'pooja' overseen by C Rajagopalachari. This is erased out of history," he said.
He also slammed the Chief Ministers of Opposition parties who didn't participated in the NITI Aayog governing council meeting.
"What are they afraid of in participating in a discussion about the future of our country? Are they worried that the future of our country's discussion means they will have nothing to contribute?" Chandrasekhar said.
Reacting over the claims of 'Opposition Unity' after the Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in the Karnataka elections, the Union Minister said, "Adding multiple zeros doesn't make it anything more than a zero. Adding people without any ideology or a common belief in the future of India does not make them a viable alternative to PM Modi's vision of the future of India, just because they are having meals together and press conferences together," he further said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the new Parliament building to the nation on Sunday.
Notably, leaders of Congress and 20 other opposition parties have accused the government of "bypassing" President Droupadi Murmu for the event and said that they will "boycott" the inaugural ceremony.
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