Political controversy over PM Modi unveiling national emblem on Parliament building

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the national emblem cast atop the new Parliament building, marking the first major milestone ahead of the building's scheduled opening for later this year. At the same time, Opposition parties such as the CPI(M) and the AIMIM criticised the inauguration by Modi, saying this was a "violation" of the Constitution which envisages separation of power between the executive and the legislature.

"The Constitution separates powers of Parliament, government and judiciary. As head of the government, the prime minister should not have unveiled the national emblem atop the new parliament building," All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi wrote on Twitter. "The speaker of Lok Sabha represents Lok Sabha which isn't subordinate to the government. The prime minister has violated all constitutional norms," the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad added.

Congress leader Manickam Tagore highlighted the absence of opposition leaders from the event. "Hon'ble Speaker sahib, Parliament needs ruling party and opposition parties. Where are the opposition party Leaders? It is not the BJP office, I think," Tagore wrote on Twitter, while tagging a tweet of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who had posted photographs from the event on the microblogging website. 

A lot of Twitter users also pointed out that there were differences between Ashoka's lions and the current emblem, saying that the former embraced a peaceful demeanour and that the latter was "ferocious". 

Hitting back at Owaisi, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had said he is driven by a negative mindset and constantly attacks the country's political, moral, social, cultural and Constitutional values to run his party.

-Inputs from PTI