Don’t link it to politics, says Amit Shah on new Parliament inauguration, sceptre ceremony

Shah was addressing a press conference to announce the government’s plan to hand over a sacred sceptre to Modi during the new Parliament’s inauguration. The gold-plated sceptre was given to Jawaharlal Nehru by priests from Tamil Nadu on the eve of Independence to mark the transfer of power from the British. On Sunday, after being handed to the PM at a ceremony, the sceptre would be displayed in the new Lok Sabha, he said.

With several Opposition parties saying they would boycott the inauguration as the President had been left out of the proceedings, the home minister was asked how the Opposition would view the sceptre ceremony.

“Don’t link this to politics. This is a very sentimental proceeding that is linking new India with our traditions. This should be seen in a limited way. Politics has its own place and everyone reacts based on their own capacity to think,” Shah said.

He said the government had invited all, referring to political parties represented in Parliament, and that they would all attend based on their own “bhaavna” or emotion. He said the construction of the new Parliament was a testament to the Prime Minister’s farsightedness.

As a part of the redevelopment of the Central Vista area, the government began the construction of the new Parliament in January 2021, after the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone in December 2020.