Shillong, May 28: After performing ‘puja’ and placing the revered Sengol in the Lok Sabha chamber, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building on Sunday morning. Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla accompanied PM Modi.
As a result of their insistence that President Droupadi Murmu should perform the honours, a number of opposition parties have decided to boycott the opening of the new Parliament building.
The new Sansad Bhavan’s dedication falls on the same day as Hindutva theorist V D Savarkar’s birthday. On Friday, a number of opposition parties attacked the government, with the Congress branding it a “complete insult” to the nation’s founders.
At 7.30 am, PM Modi arrived at the new parliament building. A traditional puja that lasted for approximately an hour opened the service.
The Adheenam seers gave the Sengol to the prime minister. Modi kneeled before the Sengol and beseeched the blessings of the high priests of various adheenams throughout Tamil Nadu.
Modi then marched the Sengol to the new Parliament building to the sounds of “nadaswaram” and the singing of Vedic mantras. PM Modi inserted the Sengol inside the new Parliament building after the pooja was finished.
Amid Vedic chants by priests from Karnataka’s Shringeri Math, the prime minister performed “Ganapati Homam” to invoke Gods to bless the inauguration of the new Parliament building.