New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Veteran Naga leader and former Chief Minister of Nagaland, S.C. Jamir on Sunday described the inauguration of new Parliament building in the national capital as “definitely a Red Letter Day”, while BJP vice president M. Chuba Ao, who hails from Nagaland, termed the Opposition boycott “shameful”.
“It was an emotional occasion for me,” Jamir said, while also underlining that he disapproved the politics around it.
“The inaugural show should have been an occasion to demonstrate before the world that democracy is deeply rooted in the very life of India but sadly we have miss this golden historical occasion through partisan politics which is sad,” he told this correspondent.
Chuba Ao on Sunday flayed the Congress and other opposition parties for staying away from the historic occasion of inauguration of new Parliament building and called it “shameful”.
“They (20 opposition parties) stayed away from the grand occasion which comes in a century or two. Political historians will remember the historic blunder by the opposition parties — especially the Congress,” he told this correspondent.
“The wise leaders of the grand old party should have applied a better sense of judgement and come out of their ‘Hate Narendra Modi’ agenda,” he said.
Chuba further said: “The boycott was a shameful move. The Congress itself does not have a very good history of showing respect to Constitutional offices and even the office of President of India”.
Elaborating further on this, he said while Congress boycotted on the pretext that President Droupadi Murmu should have inaugurated the newly installed iconic building, the party seems to have memory lapses on its own conduct.
“During the time of (former prime minister) Manmohan Singh, an ordinance signed by the President was dismissed as an ordinary piece of paper by Rahul Gandhi — who is today the face of the Indian National Congress,” he said.
He also referred to the “unfortunate chapter” when the then President (in the eighties) had said: “If my leader had asked me to sweep her floor I would have done so.”
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has aptly given India a Swadeshi Parliament, and every Indian will be proud of this for generations to come. In their boycott, the opposition parties have displayed a slavish mentality to continue with the British legacy. The ‘New India’ is not ready for that and the negative politics will be discarded,” Chuba Ao maintained.
Referring to Modi government’s completion of nine years in office, he said: “The governance formula guided by ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ vision of the Prime Minister lays emphasis on irreversible empowerment of marginalised sections and poor. This has changed the perception about life and on the elements of governance from the poorer and deprived sections.”
“People have developed a new taste for new aspirations in New India and people will not be happy to remain contented with the good old theory of luck,” he said.
Chuba also said: “An integral element of PM Modi’s government has been the effort to recognise icons of social empowerment and thus November 15 (every year) was declared Bhagwan Birsa Munda’s jayanti. This kind of recognition builds pride among the tribal communities by highlighting their contribution to nation-building. This also helps ensure better national and socio-economic integration. In 2015, a grand function was addressed by the Prime Minister in Delhi to mark the birth centenary of Rani Gaidinliu of Nagaland.
“We may also take note that global institutions the IMF and the UNDP have recognised the Modi government’s contribution to provide welfare measures and alleviate poverty,” he said.
The new Parliament building has a built-up area of 65,000 square metres. Its triangular shape ensures optimum space utilisation. The Lok Sabha hall has 888 seats and it is based on the peacock theme, the national bird.
The Rajya Sabha will have a capacity of 384 seats and it is based on the lotus theme, the national flower.
The Lok Sabha hall will be able to accommodate 1,272 seats for joint sessions.
The Modi government first took over on May 26, 2014 and in 2019 the swearing in took place on May 30.
The BJP had drawn elaborate outreach programmes to mark nine years of the Modi government between May 30 and June 30.
During this period, special programmes and documentary telecasts will be organised on June 25 to mark the imposition of Emergency by late former prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Meanwhile, S.C. Jamir, told IANS: “It is definitely a Red Letter Day. It was an emotional occasion for me as I remember 1947 and also 1950 when we turned into Republic and later in 1960 when the Naga issue was discussed and debated in detail in Parliament.”
However, he hastened to add: “Politicisation around the great occasion should have been avoided. I will firmly say everything should not be politicised and we have to keep in mind that Parliament is a national institute.”
Jamir served as a Parliamentarian in both the Houses of Parliament. He was a member of Lok Sabha between March 4, 1967 to December 27, 1970. Later in 1987 he went to the Upper House of Parliament from July 2, 1987 to April 2, 1992.
Jamir also served as Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and he was a Deputy Minister under Indira Gandhi. Prior to statehood, Jamir was nominated as the first Lok Sabha Member from Nagaland in the year 1961.
Another Naga politician, NPF legislature party leader Azo Kuzholuzo Nienu congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India on the occasion
But, he said: “We are also confused whether one should be really happy or sad with regard to the fiasco around the inauguration of the new Parliament building. One would have been very happy if all political parties had come together but they could not bury their differences. So, I could say it is a rather mixed feeling.
“The differences between political parties have proven to the world that individual interest is above common interest in our country and the episode has shown to the world a divided India which is truly sad,” he said.
(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of books, ‘The Talking Guns: North East India’ and ‘Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth’. Views are personal)
