Despite 19 opposition parties boycotting the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened India’s new parliament building.
The government has come under fire from the opposition for not requesting the president to officially launch the new structure.
Additionally, they criticised the choice to conduct the event on the anniversary of Hindutva ideologist VD Savarkar’s birth.
The boycott has been referred to as a “disrespect of democracy” by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The government’s ambitious plan to establish the Central Vista power corridor in Delhi’s capital city. Includes the construction of a new parliament building.
In addition to dedicating the new structure on Sunday, Mr. Modi will also introduce a new 75-rupee currency to mark the occasion. And pay homage to India’s 75th year of independence.
The new, four-story structure, which is in front of the colonial-era legislature and cost an estimated 9.7 billion rupees ($117.1 million, £94.2 million), has a larger seating capacity.
The Lok Sabha chamber, which will host the lower house of parliament, is modelled after the peacock. Which is the national bird of India. The lower house’s assembly hall, known as Rajya Sabha, is fashioned after India’s national flower, the lotus.
19 parties – including the main opposition Congress – announced their “collective decision” to boycott the inauguration ceremony.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi said that the building should have been inaugurated by President Draupadi Murmu, the parliament’s highest constitutional authority.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also criticised the government’s decision to hold the event “on the birth anniversary of the man [Savarkar] who opposed Mahatma Gandhi vehemently all his life”.
Protests by India’s finest wrestlers will take place outside the new parliament building when it is inaugurated.
Wrestlers, including Olympic medalists, have been protesting for months at Jantar Mantar. A heritage monument in Delhi, seeking the resignation and arrest of their wrestling federation president, Brij Bhushan Singh.
Singh, a powerful BJP member and politician, is accused of sexually abusing and harassing female wrestlers, which he denies.