RJD compares the new parliament building with coffin; sparks controversy

The opposition has stepped up the ante in attacking the Centre over the continuing issue surrounding the dedication of the new Parliament Building. Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), has sent a contentious tweet in which it compares the new Parliament building to a coffin. In the caption, the party asked, "What's this?". This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the historic "Sengol" near the Lok Sabha Speaker's chair and officially opened the new parliament building on Sunday.

RJD compares the new parliament building with a coffin

As many as 21 opposition parties, including the Congress, Left, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, and AAP decided to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying they find no value in a new building when the "soul of democracy has been sucked out," as the parties were "upset" that the parliament building was not being inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu. Noting that the inauguration of the Parliament building is a momentous occasion, the opposition parties in a joint statement said, "Despite our belief that the government is threatening democracy, and our disapproval of the autocratic manner in which the new Parliament was built, we were open to sinking our differences and marking this occasion".

(Image: Republic)

Congress gets slammed by Mutt that gave Sengol to Nehru

This, however, isn't the first instance that the opposition party has tried to raise questions on the new Parliament building. On Friday,  senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh even claimed that there was 'no documented evidence' to prove that the British Lord Mountbatten, C Rajagopalachari, and Nehru described this 'Sengol' as a symbol of the transfer of power from the British to India. 

Congress' statement forced the Shaivite mutt to come up with a strong response and condemn the allegation. The mutt's statement read: "Our Adeenam honoured the invitation of Rajaji, and we got a Sengol made, gave it to Lord Mountbatten, got it back from him, and presented it to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in an elaborate ritual. The Swami who presented it to Nehru also made it clear that this Sengol is a symbol of self-rule."   

"We saw some reports that said people of a certain political party, which has deeply pained us. It is said by this Congress party that the history related to the event of the use of the Sengol to symbolise the symbol of power in 1947 is false. It has been well documented by multiple sources, including our records, that we were invited to conduct a ritual to symbolise the transfer of power," the statement read.

The statement issued by Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam further said, "It is sad and unfortunate that political leaders are making such bogus and false claims, trying to raise question marks on its credibility, and trying to reduce the importance of the use of Sengol as a symbol of the transfer of power for the sake of politics."

(With inputs from PTI)