New Parliament Building Inauguration LIVE: Amid Oppn Attack, Press Club Objects 'Restrictions'

New Parliament Building Inauguration LIVE: Amid Oppn Attack, Press Club Objects ‘Restrictions’

New Parliament Building News LIVE Updates: Even as the Opposition has stepped up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the inauguration, the Union finance ministry has announced minting of Rs 75 coin to commemorate the opening of new Parliament building.

According to the notification, the coin will be circular in shape and have the inscription ‘Parliament Complex’ with the image of the new building. It will be 44 millimeters in diameter and will have 200 serrations along the edges.

The metallic composition of the coin will have quaternary alloy consisting of 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% nickel and 5% zinc, the notification stated.

A report in Hindustan Times stated that the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar along with the inscription ‘Satyamev Jayate’ will be featured in the center of the coin’s obverse side. The left periphery will of the coin will have Bharat inscribed in Devanagari script and India in English.

The report further stated that the upper periphery will have Sansad Bhavan inscribed in Devanagari script and the lower periphery will have Parliament Complex in English.

The announcement comes amid the Opposition’s objections to PM Modi inaugurating the new Parliament building, with the Congress saying “one man’s ego and desire for self-promotion” has denied the first tribal woman president her constitutional privilege to inaugurate the complex.

As the political row over the opening of the building in New Delhi on Sunday escalated, the BJP hit back alleging that the opposition parties have decided to boycott the inauguration just because it has been built at the initiative of Prime Minister Modi.

The BJP also appealed to the opposition parties to attend the “historic day” of its inauguration by showing “big heart”.

As many as 20 opposition parties including the Congress have announced their boycott of the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Modi. On the other hand, 25 parties have said they will participate in the inauguration and these include seven non-NDA parties.

The BSP, Shiromani Akali Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), YSR Congress, BJD and TDP are the seven non-NDA parties. The presence of these seven parties, which together account for 50 MPs in the Lok Sabha, will be a major relief for the BJP-led NDA. Their participation will also help the NDA blunt the Opposition’s charge that it is all a government event.

BSP president Mayawati called the opposition boycott inappropriate and welcomed the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Modi. She also said the opposition should have thought about “tribal honour” when it fielded a candidate against Murmu and denied her an unopposed election.

Nineteen Opposition parties, including the Congress, Left, TMC, Samajwadi Party (SP) and AAP, have jointly announced the boycott, saying they find no value in a new building when the “soul of democracy has been sucked out”. Separately, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said if Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla does not inaugurate the new Parliament building, his party would not attend the event.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Thursday said it will take part in the inauguration of the new Parliament building with party chief N Chandrababu Naidu instructing Rajya Sabha MP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar to represent the party. The JD(S) supremo and former prime minister Deve Gowda also said he would attend the inauguration.