'Sucking soul of democracy': Group of noted citizens slam oppn boycott of Parl building inauguration

A group of prominent citizens, including former military officers, bureaucrats and academicians, came out with an open letter to the opposition, criticising it for deciding to stay away from the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28.

According to media reports, former NIA director Yogesh Chander Modi, former ambassadors Bhaswati Mukherjee, Niranjan Desai, Virender Gupta and JS Sapra, former DGPs SP Vaid, and BL Vohra among others, in their letter, claimed that those who are boycotting the inauguration are "sucking the soul of democracy."

The citizens who signed the open letter include 88 retired bureaucrats, 100 veterans and 82 academicians.

They claimed that the move is undemocratic claimed that the "nature of the present Congress Party has always been undemocratic and their hubris has always come in the way of the nation’s progress.”

"If only the Congress and its allies would ponder deeper, would they get that it is not the soul of democracy that has been lost but that the opposition’s popularity which has been lost," the letter read.

The opposition doesn’t get that resorting to its modus-operandi to hold placards and vociferous sloganeering, disrespecting the most important institutions of the country, they stated.

As many as 19 opposition parties, including the Congress, Left, TMC, SP and AAP, announced their decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Modi, saying they find no value in a new building when the "soul of democracy has been sucked out".

PM Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.