The new Parliament building is being inaugurated on 28th May 2023. Since the laying of the foundation stone of the new Parliament Building, this project has been under dispute, debate and criticism.

The First dispute started when the Head of the Government of India PM Narendra Modi laid the Foundation Stone of the new Building.

The Second Dispute came when the construction work was continuing during Covid Period.

The Third Dispute came when the entire Delhi’s construction work was stalled due to heavy levels of pollution but the construction work of the Parliament was still going on.

The Fourth Dispute arose when the National Amblem installed above the building was not the exact replica of the original. The lions were in an angry mood.

Now the Fifth dispute is with the date release of the inauguration of the Parliament.

On 18th May 2023, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the new Building of Parliament. The date for the inauguration was fixed to 28th May 2023.

The date of inauguration is also under debate. This is the birth date of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The Modi Government calls him a “Freedom Fighter” whereas many other political parties doubt his involvement in the freedom fight. 

21 political parties are on the one side and the other 16 parties are on the other side.

The Latest Sixth Dispute got attached to the new Parliament Building when Rahul Gandhi tweeted on 21st May that the “New Parliament Building shall be inaugurated by the President and not the Prime Minister.” The opposition parties questioned the move of the Speaker and the Central Government as to why the building is not being inaugurated by the President who is the head of the Government and the Legislature.

Cabinet Minister Hardeep Puri replied to this that President is not a member of any of the houses but the Prime Minister is a member of one of the houses.”

What does Article 79 of the Constitution say:- “There shall be a Parliament for the Union consisting of the President and two houses. The name f these houses shall be Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House)”. Therefore, the Parliament consists of the President and without him it is incomplete. Every session of the Parliament is called by the President of India. Every bill of the house reached the President. The bill cleared by both houses becomes the law of the land when it achieves the accent of the President of India. Therefore, the President is part of the Parliament and head of the Union.

Article 53(1) of the Constitution says that “The executive power of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution”. Therefore, the President is the head of the Government and also a constituent of the Parliament."

Article 74(1) in The Constitution Of India says that: “There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice: Provided that the President may require the council of Ministers to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.”

Therefore, in the hierarchy of power in the country, President is at the top, then comes the Vice-President and then the Prime Minister. And the Lok Sabha speaker falls in the 6th Place in the country and the Chief Justice of India is equivalent to him.

Prime Minister is the Leader of the house, therefore, it is not improper on his part to inaugurate the new Building.

The speaker is the custodian of the entire parliament building and the house. It is not improper on the part of the Speaker to invite the Prime Minister to inaugurate the new building. It is the privilege of the Speaker to invite the person of his choice to inaugurate the new Building.
On the contrary, this is also an argument that if this is the argument that he is the leader of the Lok Sabha and he can inaugurate the same then the leader of the Rajya Sabha Piyush Gogal can also do it.

In the House of the parliament, Speaker and the Chairman is on the higher post than the Prime Minister.

The old building of Parliament was constructed by the East India Company. The foundation stone of the old building was laid on Feb 1921 and inaugurated on 18th January, 1927 and it was in the show for 93 years. Lord Irvin was the viceroy of India at the relevant time.

The Constitution is silent on the issue and this is an issue of morality.

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