‘Then and Now’: Mamata Banerjee’s swipe at PM Modi over pic with seers in new Parliament building

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the latter’s picture during the inauguration of the new Parliament building yesterday.

The image shows the Prime Minister posing with a group of Adheenam seers from different mutts in Tamil Nadu who had arrived in Delhi to participate in the inauguration of the new Parliament on May 28.

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Mamata juxtaposed the picture with a group photo that showed India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, President Rajendra Prasad and BR Ambedkar, among others.

Mamata tagged the first half of the image as “After Independence” and the lower half as “Now”.

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Notably, the Trinamool Congress that Mamata heads, was part of the 20-odd Opposition parties which boycotted the inauguration of the new Parliament alleging violation of the Constitution and insult to the office of the President of India over the Prime Minister’s decision to inaugurate the new Parliament himself.

“When the soul of democracy has been sucked out of the Parliament, we find no value in a new building,” a joint statement issued by 19 parties, including the Trinamool Congress read.

“We announce our collective decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building. We will continue to fight — in letter, in spirit, and in substance — against this authoritarian Prime Minister and his government, and take our message directly to the people of India,” it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the new Parliament to the nation on May 28. The ceremony that began with a puja and havan at 7.30 AM saw the participation of around 60 Adheenam seers.

On Saturday, a day ahead of the inauguration, the seers handed over the ‘Sengol’, a historic sceptre from the era of the Cholas, to the Prime Minister. The seers also accompanied the Prime Minister into the Lok Sabha as he placed the Sengol next to the Speaker’s chair.