The surprise visit at the construction site of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening has stirred another controversy. While so far media reports have highlighted how PM Modi went to the site without prior notice and his security detail, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has raised the “principle of separation of powers”. He asked why the Prime Minister visited the construction site without the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
In a tweet where he took a dig at PM Modi, Owaisi said, “Parliament isn’t PMO’s domain. Why was he there without Lok Sabha speaker? Did the Speaker permit him? This violates principle of Separation of Powers, which is part of basic Structure of constitution. Maybe it was the jet lag from his US tour. It was AM there but PM was here..
”The principle of separation of power dictates that different powers of the state should not interfere with each other. According to the Constitution, the Speaker is the head of the Lok Sabha Secretariat and the Speaker solely enjoys the authority of altering or creating new structures in the Parliament Estate. But in the Indian context, the principle of separation is often discussed only with respect to the three organs of legislative, executive and judicial.
The Congress, meanwhile, had maintained its stance, questioning the need to prioritise the issue after a devastating second wave of the pandemic. They called it a "thoughtless and insensitive" gesture.
"We would have supported him had he visited some hospital site. I am sorry we cannot support a gesture as thoughtless, as insensitive as this," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters at the national capital.
"I don't know if the prime minister was seen visiting a hospital or an oxygen plant under construction. Three months ago, we were trying to save our loved ones and today our PM goes to visit the Rs 25,000 crore Central Vista project, the timing of which is questionable. The country is yet to recover from the pain, grief and sorrow that we went through," he added.
(PTI inputs)