Who Should Inaugurate The New Parliament Building And What The Constitution of India Says

The new Parliament building is all over the news with at least 19 Opposition parties saying that they would attend the inauguration.

The primary reason being cited by the Opposition parties that it should be the President and not the Prime Minister who should be inaugurating the building. The Union Government has already announced that it would be the PM who will be inaugurating the building. The Opposition has however argued that it should have been the President who should be inaugurating the new Parliament building also known as Sansad Bhavan.

The Congress party also accused the BJP of not even inviting the President for the inaugural ceremony.

Now let us take a look at the powers of the President and who should be inaugurating the new Parliament building.

The powers of the Indian President:

The President of India enjoys certain powers and performs several ceremonial functions. They include the Executive, Judiciary, Emergency and Military powers.

"There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and the two Houses--Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of People (Lok Sabha)," Article 79 of the Indian Constitution states.

On the other hand, Article 74(1) of the Constitution says, " 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."

This makes it clear that the Parliament consists of the President of India. Further if one reads Into Article 87, it says that at the beginning of every Parliament session, the President shall address both Houses and inform the Parliament about the causes of its summons.

The list of invitees:

Meanwhile invitations have been sent out to scores of leaders for the inauguration of the new Parliament building. Invites have been sent to the former Speakers and Chairmen of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Speaker Om Birla will dedicate the new Parliament building to the nation on May 28.

Sources tell OneIndia that invitations have been extended to the chief ministers of all states and Union Territories. Invitations have also been extended to Secretarites of all ministries of the Government of India.

The chief architect of the Parliament, Bimal Patel and Tata boss Ratan Tata have also been invited for the inauguration of the new Parliament building. Tata Projects had won the contract to build the new building, as part of the Centre's Central Vista redevelopment plans.

The source also added that President Draupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar are likely to release congratulatory messages ahead of the inauguration.

During the inauguration Birla will deliver a speech as he is the custodian of the Parliament. PM Modi will also deliver a speech on the occasion. The new Parliament can seat 800 people and all parliamentarians are likely to be present.