Srinagar, May 26: The J&K politicians have rallied behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he is set to inaugurate the new Parliament building on Sunday, May 28.
The inauguration of the new parliament building has been termed to be a moment of pride for 140 crore Indians.
The J&K politicians said that the governments could belong to a few parties, but the Parliament belongs to all parties and that those choosing to boycott the ceremony were committing political blunder and would be remembered to have been on the wrong side of history.
Former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig told Greater Kashmir that there was no scope for any controversy if PM Modi inaugurates the new parliament building.
“People should know that if the foundation is laid by the president then the inauguration has to be done by the president and if the foundation is laid by the PM, then he should inaugurate it. The foundation of the new parliament building was laid by the PM. So he can inaugurate the new parliament building. Even his statue can be raised outside the building as well," he said.
Baig said that some people wanted to create a controversy out of nothing.
“There is a saying that the difference between a politician and a statesman is that the former wants to create an issue and the latter wants to solve the issue,” Baig said.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari said that PM Modi was the head of the country in the parliamentary democracy and should inaugurate the new parliament building.
"In a parliamentary democracy, the PM is equally head of the country. The people of India elect the PM as he represents the largest single party. We are not in a presidential form of government where the President is elected directly. We elect the PM and the president is selected," Bukhari said.
He said there was no issue with the new Parliament building being inaugurated by the PM.
“But it is a fact that the opposition will try to find an issue with everything," Bukhari said.
However, he said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were deprived from the fruits of democracy by the same parliament as it downgraded J&K's statehood and kept people away from exercising their franchise as well.
"But the fact is that Narendra Modi is the country’s PM and deserves to inaugurate it. He needs to be given credit as he has conceived it and got it done. There is no wrong in it if he inaugurates the new parliament building," Bukhari said.
Former minister and Peoples Conference General Secretary Imran Reza Ansari told Greater Kashmir that the new Parliament building was the pet project of PM Modi, which he initiated and got it completed within his tenure.
“There is no need to make it a political issue or boycott the inaugural ceremony. It was his dream project and was completed by him during his tenure. There is no issue with him inaugurating the project as the PM,” he said.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, J&K President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ravinder Raina said that Narendra Modi being Prime Minister of India was entitled to inaugurate the new parliament building.
He said that it was the legitimate responsibility of PM Modi to inaugurate the new parliament building.
“If the PM inaugurates it, there is no wrong in it," he told Greater Kashmir.
Raina said that the old building of the parliament was a heritage building in which the democratic process was run for the last 75 years.
“We respect the old building but the new building was constructed due to the initiative of the PM himself and the building was completed in a time-bound manner due to continuous efforts of our PM. So, he has the right to inaugurate it," Raina said. He said that the elected members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would sit in the building and there was no wrong if the new building of the Parliament would be inaugurated by the PM himself.
“Opposition is vision less and has no issues to discuss so they are spreading propaganda and trying to create a false narrative. They want to create an issue out of no issue but they won't get any success," Raina said.
Senior BJP leader, Devender Singh Rana lashed out at the opposition saying that it was trying to create a controversy when none exists.
"The parliament is a temple and epitome of Indian democracy and the PM is the democratically-elected leader of the nation. There is no impropriety in his inaugurating the new parliament building,” he told Greater Kashmir.
Rana said that the opposition, having left with no credible issues, had hit a nadir point by raking up this "unnecessary row".
Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Mayor, Junaid Azim Mattu said there was nothing wrong if the PM inaugurates the new house of democracy in the country.
"The whole project has been envisaged and nurtured by the PM. It is his project. It was his dream and he saw it through. This is a very trivial issue raised by the opposition," he said.
Mattu said that in the parliamentary democracy, it does not really matter if the PM inaugurates the new building of the parliament.
"I think credit should be given where it is due. One might have political differences with the ruling party or the PM or the government but the fact is that the new parliament building and the Kartavya Path were his dream projects,” he said.
Mattu said that ironically opposition was up in arms against it in the beginning saying the new parliament building should not be constructed, as the old building was a heritage one.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong if the PM inaugurates it. It is a befitting tribute to democracy that the directly elected representative of the people will inaugurate the new house of democracy in the country," he said.
