No need for new Parliament building: Nitish Kumar

Amid Oppositions call for boycotting the inauguration of the new Parliament building Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday asserted that there is no need for a new Parliament buildingThe new Parliament building is an attempt to write a new history by those who had no contribution in the freedom struggle he told reportersKumar also expressed dismay over President Droupadi and VicePresident Jagdeep Dhankar who is also the chairman of Rajya Sabha not being invited to the functionJDU of which he is a senior leader has announced that it will boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building on Sunday The party will observe a daylong fast here on the day to protest the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra ModiThere is no need for a new Parliament building Those who had no contribution to the countrys fight for independence are trying to distort history It is quite surprising that the President of India and the VicePresident who is the chairman of Rajya Sabha have not been invited to the inauguration programme Kumar who had been a cabinet minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee told reporters hereJDU strongly holds that the president is an important part of the countrys parliamentary system As the president Droupadi Murmu holds the highest constitutional post in the country and she should have been invited by the Narendra Modi government to inaugurate the new Parliament building the partys state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha told reporters here on SaturdayAsked about his decision to skip the Niti Aayog meeting in Delhi on Saturday Kumar said It was in the morning and I had other engagements in Patna during the day Therefore I could not go to Delhi Had the meeting been held in the afternoon I would have attended it I sent a list of ministers and officials who could attend the meeting but there was no response from the Centre So no representative from Bihar is attending todays meetingOn the Reserve Bank of Indias decision to withdraw Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation after September 30 2023 Kumar said First one thousand currency notes were withdrawn and now Rs 2000 I fail to understand their intentionsTo questions on a likely meeting of nonBJP parties here to discuss opposition unity before the coming Lok Sabha elections he said We will talk about it laterKumar had met Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee in March who asked him to hold a meeting of the opposition parties in Patna in May endThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever