NEW DELHI: On a day when PM Modi laid down the foundation stone of a new Parliament building and called it a "milestone" in India's democratic history, the opposition accused the ruling dispensation of "trampling" democracy.
Congress said that history will remember PM Modi for laying the foundation stone of a new Parliament at a time when the farmers of the country are protesting against three farm laws.
"Mr Modi, history will also record that when the 'Annadata' (food grower) was fighting for his rights for 16 days on the streets, you were building a palace for yourself in the name of Central Vista," chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.
Congress leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh too took on the Modi government's Central Vista redevelopment plan, saying the new 'atmanirbhar' Parliament building bears an eerie likeness to the Pentagon in Washington DC.”
Former Union minister P Chidamabaram wrote on Twitter that the foundation for a new Parliament was "laid on the ruins of a liberal democracy."
While giving lectures on values and cultures of democracy, the PM Modi-led BJP is "destroying democracy mercilessly, assaulting all dissent & preventing our youth from even choosing their life partners," tweeted CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
"An India with no hungry stomachs," wrote AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in reply to a tweet quoting PM Modi as saying "What can be more beautiful, sacred than having a new Parliament inspire us when India celebrates 75th year of freedom?"
Earlier today, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for a new Parliament building in a ceremony attended by Union ministers, ambassadors, leaders of different parties, including former Lok Sabha speaker Shivraj Patil and representatives of the YSR Congress, AIADMK, BJD and the TRS. However, some opposition leaders gave the event a miss.
PM asked every one to take the pledge that there will be no greater interest for them than national interest, their concern for the country will be more than their own personal concerns, nothing will be more important to them than the unity and integrity of the country, and that dignity and fulfilment of the Constitution will be the biggest goal of their life.
The new building would be a four-storey structure with a seating capacity of 1,224 and cost Rs 970 crore. It would replace the existing colonial structure which would be completing hundred years in 2021. The structure would be built on an area of 64,500 sq m.
(With inputs from agencies)