JOIN USNew Parliament building: Why does the Opposition want President to inaugurate it?
The inauguration of the new Parliament building, scheduled for May 28, is in the middle of a political war of words. The Centre has announced that the Parliament building will be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This, however, has miffed the Opposition, which has pointed out that according to the Constitution, the President of the country is an integral part of the Parliament, and in accordance with the same, President Droupadi Murmu should be inaugurating the new Parliament.
This has led to a series of accusations and counter accusations. Congress president Mallkarjun Kharge and other leaders like Manish Tiwari and Shashi Tharoor have pointed out that the President should be inaugurating the new Parliament building. Union Minister Hardeep Puri accused Congress of generously misquoting the Constitution.
In reply, Tiwari said that Puri is reading a different Constitution. He quoted Article 79: “There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the council of States and the House of the People”
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What does the Constitution say?
According to the Constitution, the powers of President entail executive, legislative, judiciary, emergency, and military powers. The legislative powers included both Houses of the Parliament, that is Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House).
In Article 79 it is further stated that, “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 74 (1) of the Indian Constitution specifies: "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".
Moreover, Article 87, requires the President to address both the Houses before every Parliament session. The bills passed by both the Houses can’t become an act without greenlight given by the President.
Thus, the Constitution gives the President a very significant role in the functioning of the Parliament.