Nineteen Opposition parties on Wednesday collectively decided to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28, rendering the sanctity of one of the most important events in the history of post-Independent India significantly diminished.

The joint Opposition’s radical decision rests on two reasons — the insult of President Droupadi Murmu who deserved to inaugurate the new Parliament and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ceaseless machinations to weaken democracy.

The joint statement issued by the 19 parties said: “When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from Parliament, we find no value in a new building. We announce our collective decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building. We will continue to fight — in letter, in spirit, and in substance — against this authoritarian Prime Minister and his Government, and take our message directly to the people of India.”

While the absence of the Opposition parties as well as the President of India robs the event of its democratic lustre, it also advertises the breakdown of the relationship between the different stakeholders of the polity where even systemic engagements aren’t happening. This crisis of democracy doubtless casts a shadow over the grand occasion of the opening of the new Parliament building, rightly described as the temple of democracy.

The statement released on Wednesday morning signed by 19 parties, including the Congress, said: “The inauguration of a new Parliament building is a momentous occasion. Despite our belief that the Government is threatening democracy, and our disapproval of the autocratic manner in which the new Parliament was built, we were open to sinking our differences and marking this occasion. However, Prime Minister Modi’s decision to inaugurate the new Parliament building by himself, completely sidelining President Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response.”

The statement added: “The Constitution of India states, in Article 79, that ‘There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People’. The President is not only the Head of State in India, but also an integral part of Parliament. She summons, prorogues and addresses Parliament. She must assent for an Act of Parliament to take effect. In short, Parliament cannot function without the President. Yet, the Prime Minister has decided to inaugurate the new Parliament building without her.”

Arguing that the new Parliament building has been built at great expense during a once-in-a-century pandemic with no consultation with the people of India or MPs, for whom it is apparently being built, the Opposition parties declared: “This undignified act insults the high office of the President, and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution. It undermines the spirit of inclusion which saw the nation celebrate its first woman Adivasi President.”

The Opposition added: “Undemocratic acts are not new to the Prime Minister, who has relentlessly hollowed out Parliament. Opposition members of Parliament have been disqualified, suspended and muted when they raised the issues of the people of India. MPs from the Treasury benches have disrupted Parliament. Many controversial legislations, including the three farm laws, have been passed with almost no debate, and Parliamentary Committees have been practically made defunct.”

The Congress had taken the lead in opposing the decision to exclude the President from the function as a sinister ploy to ensure that the Prime Minister legitimately gets to preside over the event. It had boycotted the foundation-laying ceremony as well for the same reason, because then President Ram Nath Kovind had not been invited, even as some other Opposition parties had attended that function.

After the collective boycott decision, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday tweeted: “Not to allow the President to inaugurate Parliament, and even refusing to invite her to the function, is an insult to the highest constitutional position of the country. Constitutional values make Parliament, not the bricks of arrogance.”

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “Parliament should hear the ‘shehnai’ of democracy. But it is seeing the tank of autocracy since the self-styled Vishwaguru has arrived. Change your attitude, not the building.”

General secretary in charge of Congress organisation K.C. Venugopal tweeted: “Parliament is sacrosanct, and as the Head of State, Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji is the only authority that can preside over the solemn occasion of the inauguration of the new Parliament building. PM Modi inaugurating the new premises is unsurprising, but appalling nonetheless. As the opposition, we refuse to participate in this charade designed solely to feed the PM’s megalomania.”

The parties that signed the statement are the Congress, DMK, Trinamul Congress, JDU, AAP, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party, RJD,CPI, CPM, JMM, RLD, National Conference, IUML, Kerala Congress (Mani), RSP, VCK and the MDMK. Among the prominent Opposition parties missing from the list are the BJD, AIADMK,BRS, TDP, YSR Congress and the BSP.

K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s BRS is not part of the joint Opposition but it will also boycott the function.