Leaders of various INDIA bloc parties have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to allow leaders of the opposition in both Houses of Parliament to speak during the Constitution Day function to be held on Tuesday.
President Droupadi Murmu will lead the celebrations at the Central Hall of the old Parliament complex to mark 75 years of India's Constitution, the government announced on Monday.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Speaker Birla will also speak at the function, Parliamenary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju later said.
However, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be addressing the event and accused "some of the Opposition parties" of giving reactions without knowing the actual arrangement.
With this clarification, both leaders of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are likely to attend the function and would be seated at the dais.
"We are writing in the context of the function being held tomorrow (Tuesday) in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India. We understand that the function will be addressed by the President, Vice President and the prime minister of India," the letter signed by leaders of various opposition parties said.
"We believe that in the best traditions and interests of Parliamentary democracy, the Leaders of Opposition in both Houses should also be given an opportunity to speak on this historic occasion," it added.
The signatories to the letter include TR Baalu, Tiruchi Siva, Kanimozhi, Supriya Sule, Raghav Chadha, P Sandosh Kumar, ET Mohammed Bashir, K Radhakrishnan, Ramji Lal Suman, and NK Premachandran.
Rijiju said, "The problem with some of the Opposition parties is that without knowing the actual arrangement, they started giving reactions."
"The prime minister is not even speaking tomorrow in the function. The speaker, the vice president and the President of India will speak," he said.
"Secondly, we have made sitting arrangements for the Leaders of Opposition of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the dais. Without knowing anything, this kind of reaction on a very solemn occasion is condemnable," Rijiju said.
The Union minister also said that the Constitution Day celebration was above politics and is a celebration of the country.
Earlier, floor leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc met ahead of the start of Parliament's Winter Session and decided to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Adani Group and demand a JPC on the matter.
The floor leaders met at the Parliament House office of Congress president and Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge.
Several opposition members, including Kharge, have given adjournment notices in both Houses on the issue.
