Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar hit out at state rivals Janata Dal (Secular) Friday amid an ongoing row between the opposition and the government over the inauguration of the new Parliament building this weekend. Shivakumar took aim at JDS leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, declaring he ought not to forget that when the presidential election was held last year his party boycotted the voting process.
“The new Parliament building should be inaugurated by the President… HD Kumaraswamy should not forget that when there was (a) presidential election, (his) party had boycotted voting for the president of the country,” Shivakumar said.
The comment came after Kumaraswamy launched a fierce attack on his former allies – the JDS and the Congress teamed up after the 2018 election to form a coalition government – over their criticism of JDS leader HD Deve Gowda’s decision to attend the inauguration.
“We are not slaves of Congress and will take our own decision. Why do we need to follow Congress?” Kumaraswamy said this morning.
On Thursday Deve Gowda, a former prime minister, confirmed the JDS would attend the inauguration of the new Parliament building, saying it had been built with taxpayers’ money and not as an ‘office’ for the BJP. “I want to tell them (opposition parties who will boycott the proceedings) I am committed to the Constitution and will go to the inauguration…”
The spat between the Congress and the JDS comes after nearly two dozen opposition parties, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party that is in power in Delhi, said they would boycott the inauguration. The opposition has argued that president Droupadi Murmu is better suited for the occasion rather than prime minister Narendra Modi. The opposition has declared that having Modi launch the building is an ‘insult’ to the president’s office.
Earlier on Friday the Supreme Court junked a petition seeking direction to the centre to invite Mrumu (who has not been invited) to the inauguration of the new Parliament.
