Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a new Parliament building in the capital city of New Delhi on May 28, 2023. The decision prompted at least 19 Opposition parties to skip the event. It may be noted that the character of the Indian State was completely different during the first five years after India’s Independence (from 1947 to 1952, before the first Parliamentary Elections). It has changed a lot in the last 75 years, as the pluralistic character of the South Asian nation is under attack now. It is no exaggeration to say that such basic construction or deconstruction has not been seen in the last seven decades.

Historian Ramachandra Guha made such an observation in a recent interview, saying that the Indian Constitution is being inadvertently rewritten in order to deliberately change the basic character of the Sovereign Secular Democratic Republic of India. Otherwise, there would have been no controversy regarding the inauguration of the newly constructed Parliament building. No one thought that such a historic event could be held in the absence of the first person of the Indian State, the President. However, the Government of Prime Minister Modi took such a step without hesitation. Neither President Droupadi Murmu nor former President Ram Nath Kovind attended the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28. The Prime Minister inaugurated the building in their absence. The activities of the Indian State have changed behind the scenes in this way in the second decade of the 21st Century.

Interestingly, the Modi Government played an important role in making both Kovind and Murmu the President. Many emotional utterances were heard at that time, as Kovind belongs to the lower caste and Murmu is the representative of a Scheduled Tribe community. This is certainly a matter of pride for the Indian State. Unfortunately, the Government of India forgot that glory during the inauguration of the new Parliament building. Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had used their identity to gain mileage in electoral politics in the past. However, the Government did not invite President Murmu and her predecessor Kovind to attend the highest-level state function. This is just political opportunism, and an act of disrespect to the dignity of a Democratic nation.

It suggests that the greatness of the institution, called the President, has vanished, and the Government of India has started using this institution as a political weapon. In other words, the President of this newly defined India is no longer the Head of State. Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders have demanded an immediate end to this symbolic politics of the Presidency. Many have opined that the Prime Minister is not the owner of Parliament so that he can do such things. Instead, the President should get utmost importance as s/he holds the supreme position of the Indian State.

Meanwhile, disrespecting the President was not the only controversy related to this inaugural ceremony. The Modi Government decided to inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28, as it was the birthday of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (May 28, 1883 – February 26, 1966), an Indian politician, activist and writer who developed the Hindu Nationalist political ideology of Hindutva while imprisoned at Ratnagiri in 1922. This extraordinary decision is a symbol of the changing character of the Indian State. To give so much importance to Savarkar, and to ignore all the great leaders of the Indian Freedom Struggle is an insult to the entire Indian State. Even the authors of the Indian Constitution deserve due respect.

Whether Savarkar had come out of jail after placing a clemency petition before the Colonial British Government can be debated by those who want to, regardless of the evidence. However, the undisputed fact is that the founder of Hinduism played no significant role in the Anti-Imperialist Movement. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand how historic this lavish inauguration of the new Parliament building really was. The new Parliament building is a true symbol of the transformation of the past, present and (possibly) the future of the Indian State under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das