Union home minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that the Congress and other opposition parties who are planning to boycott the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament building on May 28 will pay the price in the 2024 general elections for disrespecting the prime minister and the people’s mandate.
Congress and 18 other parties, including Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party, and Aam Admi Party have decided not to attend the inauguration event stating that the new building should be inaugurated by President Draupadi Murmu and not by the prime minister.
“This is a democracy and the people of India have voted Narendra Modi to be the PM. But the Congress party and its royal family (the Gandhis) are not willing to accept the PM even after nine years. They don’t allow the PM to speak in parliament and boycott proceedings when he speaks or attends some event,” said Shah while attending a public gathering in Guwahati, Assam on Thursday.
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Shah arrived in Guwahati earlier in the day to attend a state-government-organised event. He was received by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at the airport.
{{/usCountry}}Shah arrived in Guwahati earlier in the day to attend a state-government-organised event. He was received by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at the airport.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking at the event, Shah said the boycott by the Congress and other opposition parties doesn’t mean a thing as blessings of the country’s masses are with Modi.
“Over 1.3 billion people of India are watching what you (Congress) are doing. And in the next Lok Sabha polls, when you go to seek the peoples’ mandate, you will get a lesser number of seats (than in 2019) and Modiji will become PM again by winning over 300 seats,” the Union home minister said.
“This negative outlook will never benefit the country. When the BJP was in opposition, we used to respect you (Congress) and played a constructive role. But despite becoming PM with a clear majority, you are not supporting him (Modi), this is disrespect of the people’s mandate,” added Shah.
Taking a swipe at other opposition parties who boycotted Sunday’s event, the Shah said they would also meet a similar fate just like the Congress in the next general elections in 2024.
He mentioned that the foundation stone of the Jharkhand assembly was laid by chief minister Hemant Soren– an event to which the state governor was not invited.
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“I want to ask Congress, didn’t Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Chhattisgarh chief minister lay the foundation stone of the new assembly building there? Where was the governor of the state, who was a tribal woman, then? You didn’t invite her,” Shah said.
Shah cited similar instances in Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where leaders of the Congress and other parties laid foundation stones or inaugurated new assembly buildings without inviting the governor of the respective states.
Shah was on a day’s visit to Assam. The Union home minister laid the foundation stone of the 9th campus of National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Guwahati campus and distributed appointment letters to 44,703 newly recruited candidates of various Assam government departments.