Parliament not made with bricks of arrogance but with constitutional values: Rahul

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the Centre for not inviting President Droupadi Murmu to the inauguration event of the new Parliament House, and said that 'Parliament is not made with bricks of arrogance but with constitutional values'.

His remarks came after the 19 parties, including Congress, on Wednesday announced to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28.

In a tweet in Hindi, Rahul Gandhi said, "Not allowing President to inaugurate and neither calling her in the inauguration ceremony is an insult to the top constitutional post of the country. Parliament is not built by bricks of arrogance but by Constitutional values."

Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in a tweet said, "The clarinet of 'democracy' should be played in the Parliament, but ever since the self-proclaimed Vishwaguru has arrived, the cannon of 'monopoly' is being fired. Change the intention, not the building!"

Earlier in the day, 19 like-minded parties issued a joint statement and said, "When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the Parliament, we find no value in a new building and announce our collective decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building."

A war of words has erupted between the Congress and BJP over the inauguration of the new Parliament House by Prime Minister Modi on May 28.

PM Modi will be inaugurating the new Parliament building -- a triangular-shaped four-storey building with a built-up area of 64,500 square metres.

The construction started on January 15, 2021 and was to be completed by August 2022.

Built in an area of 64,500 square metres, the new building will house 1,224 MPs.

It has a library, multiple committee rooms and dining rooms.

Tata Projects has constructed the building at an estimated cost of Rs 970 crore.