“Pretty damn impressive…” Omar Abdullah praises new parliament building

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 26 (ANI): Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday praised the new Parliament building terming it “pretty damn impressive”.

In a tweet, Omar Abdullah said, “Setting aside the brouhaha about the inauguration for a moment, this building is a welcome addition. The old Parliament House has served us well but as someone who has worked there for a few years, a lot of us often spoke amongst ourselves about the need for a new & improved parliament building. Better late than never is all I’ll say & this one looks pretty damn impressive.”
PM Modi will dedicate the new Parliament building to the country on May 28.

Meanwhile, slamming the opposition parties’ call for boycotting the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several leaders and activists from Jammu and Kashmir on Friday extended support to the inauguration while also describing the opposition’s decision as “childish and trivial”.

Speaking to ANI, socio-political activist Adil Hussain said, “The new parliament building is the temple of democracy. It is a very proud thing for all of us, for all Indians including the Opposition. In the last 70 years, we did not have such leadership. If you see the ratings worldwide, Prime Minister Modi’s rating is 78 whereas US President Joe Bidden’s rating is only 43. The Opposition has expressed issues but we do not think that this is such a big issue. Politics should not happen on this.”

Meanwhile, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s party Democratic Progressive Asad Party (DPAP) spokesperson, Firdous, said, “This is not such a big issue as the Opposition has been portraying. This is simply childish behaviour by the opposition parties. This new Parliament building has a vision. It is a great move by PM Modi to inaugrate the Parliament. An agenda should not be made out of this.”

He said that the inauguration should be welcomed with “open arms” and disrespecting the Prime Minister by boycotting the event is not right.

“As a spokesperson of the party, I believe the inauguration should be welcomed with open arms. After all, he is our Prime Minister. Disrespecting the Prime Minister is not right. We must respect the move. Earlier Prime Ministers including Rajiv Gandhi also inaugurated the building in the Parliament. This is not new,” the DPAP spokesperson added.

Notably, at least 21 opposition parties have decided to boycott the PM’s decision to preside over the inauguration ceremony instead of President Droupadi Murmu.

The opposition said that the inauguration of the building without President Droupadi Murmu “insults the high office of the President, and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution”.

Meanwhile, amid the boycott call by the opposition, the Centre has received a confirmed list of 25 political parties, including some which are not a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), that will participate in the inauguration ceremony.

Apart from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), several parties in the NDA including AIADMK, Apna Dal, the Republican Party of India, the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, NPP, and NPF have confirmed their attendance for the function on Sunday.

Several neutral parties, including Biju Janata Dal, TDP, and YSRCP will also be present for the inauguration.

Amongst the opposition parties, Shiromani Akali Dal and Bahujan Samajwadi Party and JDS will attend the function on Sunday.