Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, on Sunday, May 28, said that by placing the ‘sengol’ from 1947 in the Lok Sabha, India is affirming that sovereignty resides there and not with any monarch. On Sunday, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building and installed the sengol - which was given to the first PM of India Jawaharlal Nehru on the eve of Independence - near the chair of Lok Sabha speaker.
Amid the controversy of placing the sengol in the new Parliament House, Tharoor, in a tweet, said, "My own view on the #sengol controversy is that both sides have good arguments. The government rightly argues that the sceptre reflects a continuity of tradition by embodying sanctified sovereignty & the rule of dharma. The Opposition rightly argues that the Constitution was adopted in the name of the people & that sovereignty abides in the people of India as represented in their Parliament, and is not a kingly privilege handed down by divine right. The two positions are reconcilable if one simply drops the debatable red herring about the sceptre having been handed to Nehru by Mountbatten to symbolise the transfer of power, a story for which there is no proof. Instead we should simply say that the sengol sceptre is a traditional symbol of power & authority, and by placing it in the Lok Sabha, India is affirming that sovereignty resides there & not with any monarch. Let us embrace this symbol from the past to affirm the values of our present.”
My own view on the #sengol controversy is that both sides have good arguments. The government rightly argues that the sceptre reflects a continuity of tradition by embodying sanctified sovereignty & the rule of dharma. The Opposition rightly argues that the Constitution was… pic.twitter.com/OQ3RktGiIp
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 28, 2023
His remarks came after the Prime Minister on Sunday inaugurated the new Parliament House and also placed the 'Sengol' near the Lok Sabha Speaker's chair in the chamber. Twenty Opposition parties, including the Congress, have boycotted the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament House accusing the BJP of not inviting President Droupadi Murmu and citing it as an insult to the first tribal President of the country.