Despite the massive furore over the exclusion of President Droupadi Murmu from the inauguration of the new Parliament Building on May 28, the Biju Janata Dal on Wednesday said it had decided to take part in the opening.
The BJD’s decision was keenly awaited as Opposition parties have aggressively brought the issue of the President being sidelined to the fore. Since Ms. Murmu hails from Odisha and the BJD draws its strength from strong regionalism, political analysts were predicting that it would be a difficult choice for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s party.
“The President of India is the Head of the Indian State. The Parliament represents the 1.4 billion people of India. Both the institutions are symbols of Indian democracy and draw their authority from the Constitution of India. Their authority and stature should always be safeguarded,” said Sasmit Patra, BJD’s national spokesperson, in a statement.
Mr. Patra said, “BJD believes that these constitutional institutions should be above any issue which may affect their sanctity and honour. Such issues can always be debated later in the august house. Hence, the BJD shall be a part of this momentous occasion.”
“Odisha CM does not want to confront or displease the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government. When the National Democratic Alliance government was short of a majority in the Upper House of Parliament, the BJD came to its rescue in passage of critical bills and in election of President and Vice President,” said Rabi Das, veteran journalist and Bhubaneswar-based political analyst.
Pressure was mounting on the BJD as social media platforms were flooded with negative commentary over Ms. Murmu not receiving an invitation to the inauguration.
“Each and every Odia must stand together in support of the tribal leader and the President of India Droupadi Murmu who is an Odia daughter. The way this BJP government at the centre is treating the first citizen of the Republic of India is a clear case of demeaning of the high office of Commander-In-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces,” said Abhishek Mahananda, a Congress leader, on Twitter.
Many wanted BJD to stay away from the ceremony even though the party stuck to their stand of not taking sides.
