Ex-bureaucrats, veterans condemn Opposition for boycotting new Parliament building inauguration

A group of 270 eminent citizens, including former bureaucrats, ambassadors and veterans, on May 26 condemned the Opposition for boycotting new Parliament building inauguration and claimed the “family-first” parties have come together to boycott all that represents India.

A group of 270 eminent citizens, including former bureaucrats, ambassadors and veterans, on May 26 condemned the Opposition for boycotting new Parliament building inauguration and claimed the "family-first" parties have come together to boycott all that represents India.

While it is a proud occasion for all Indians but opposition parties with their "skeletal arguments, immature, whimsy and hollow reasoning, and most of all flagrant display of non-democratic posturing, just don't get it", they said in a statement.

A democratically elected prime minister of India who has inspired a billion Indians with his authenticity, inclusive policies, strategic vision, commitment to deliver and most of all, his Indianness is "unpalatable to the Congress and other opposition parties", they added.

The signatories to the statement included 88 retired bureaucrats, 100 veterans and 82 academicians. Former NIA director Y C Modi, former IAS officers R D Kapoor, Gopal Krishna and Samirendra Chatterjee, and Lingaya University Vice Chancellor Anil Roy Dubey are among those who have issued the joint statement.

They suggested that the government stands for "India First" while alleging that opposition parties promote "family first brand of politics". How can the family-first driven parties reconcile to an India-first approach so they have come together to boycott all that represents India, the eminent citizens said.

Their statement alleged that it is the opposition parties which are "sucking the soul of democracy", a counter to the similar barb the Congress and other members of the Opposition had used against the government.

The statement noted that the number of times the Opposition has boycotted recent "non-partisan" events of Parliament is mind boggling.