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Oppn skips Constitution Day event; Birla says function was of Parliament, not govt

Oppn skips Constitution Day event; Birla says function was of Parliament, not govt
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New Delhi: Expressing displeasure over Opposition leaders skipping the Constitution Day function, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday said that the opposition parties should have participated in the function as it was a function of Parliament and not of the government.

"Constitution Day function was of Parliament and not of government. I am upset by the boycott of opposition parties. It is my endeavour that there should be no tradition of a boycott during the address of the President, vice-president, and the governor," Birla told reporters after the celebration.

Notably, several opposition parties, including Congress, Left parties, All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Samajwadi Party (SP) boycotted the Constitution Day celebrations that was organised at Central Hall of Parliament on Friday.

The Lok Sabha Speaker added that he had also said this in the presiding officers' conference that if anyone has any complaint or issue, then he can talk to me. "There may be disagreement. But, let us carry on the good tradition," Birla said.

"There were arrangements made for both Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to sit on the dais. They were informed about the same by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and my office. Still, they did not come and said that there were no seating arrangements for them on the dais, which is totally wrong," Birla said.

The celebration of Constitution Day at the Central Hall of the Parliament was led by President Ram Nath Kovind.

It's worth mentioning that the prior to Opposition leaders skipping a function in Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and senior government ministers had skipped the event to offer floral tributes to country's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament on the occasion of the late leader's birth anniversary on November 14.

The nation celebrates Constitution Day on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. The observation of Constitution Day started in 2015, based on the vision of the Prime Minister to give due recognition to the significance of this historic date.

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