NEW DELHI: The year-long celebrations to mark 75 years of adoption of Constitution will start Tuesday with President Droupadi Murmu addressing a joint session in Central Hall of the old Parliament. However, the event reignited political tensions with opposition parties urging LS Speaker Om Birla to allow their leaders to address the celebratory event. IPL 2025 mega auction IPL Auction 2025: Who went where and for how much IPL 2025: Complete list of players of each franchise This comes amid a backdrop of repeated boycotts, with 14 opposition parties skipping the event in 2019 and 2021, citing concerns over alleged violations of constitutional principles.
The govt dismissed the opposition's request and said the event was apolitical. Clarifying that only the President, Vice President and Speaker were slated to speak, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, "This is an occasion to honour the Constitution, not a platform for politics." He added that PM Modi, despite attending, would not address the gathering.
"The problem with some opposition parties is that without knowing the actual arrangement, they started giving reactions. The PM is not even speaking tomorrow in the function. Second, we have made sitting arrangements for the leaders of opposition of both LS and RS on the dais.
Without knowing anything, this kind of reaction on a very solemn occasion is condemnable," Rijiju said. Observance of Nov 26 as Constitution Day was formalised in 2015 through a govt gazette, .