Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the new Parliament House amid a boycott by most of the Opposition parties.
Modi unveiled the plaque at the new Parliament House to mark the inauguration and installed the Sengol in the Lok Sabha chamber. The Centre has claimed that Sengol is the symbol of the transfer of power from the British to India. Modi protstrated before the Sengol and sought blessings from high priests of various ‘adheenams’ in Tamil Nadu with the holy sceptre in hand.
The inauguration of the new Parliament House took place amid a boycott by the Opposition. A total of 20 parties have boycotted the inauguration and only five Opposition parties are in attendance, besides the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling coalition.
Parliament inauguration with multi-faith prayer
A multi-faith prayer was held to mark the occasion of the inauguration of the new Parliament House.
A video of the prayer showed religious figures of different faiths holding a prayer at the site. It has been called a ‘sarv-dharma’ prayer.The inauguration took place amid Vedic chants. Dressed in traditional attire, Modi walked into Parliament premises from its Gate No. 1 and was welcomed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Amid Vedic chants by priests from Karnataka’s Shringeri Math, Modi performed “Ganapati Homam” to invoke Gods to bless the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
Modi then carried the Sengol in a procession amid tunes of “nadaswaram” and chanting of Vedic mantras to the new Parliament building and installed it in a special enclosure on the right side of the Speaker’s chair in the Lok Sabha chamber.Modi felicitates workers, greets priests
On the day of the inauguration of the new Parliament House, Modi also felicitated some workers associated with the project.
Modi felicitated with shawls and souvenirs some workers who played key roles in the construction of the new Parliament building.
Visuals of the felicitation shows Modi engaging with the workers one by one as an announcer informs of their individual roles in the project.
