As India marks its 72nd Constitution Day on Friday, opposition parties in the country, including Congress, Trinamool Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, and others have decided to boycott the celebrations in the Central Hall of the Parliament.
On this day, President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also deliver addresses as part of the celebrations.
According to an official communique issued by the government, President Kovind will read the Preamble to the Indian Constitution after his speech and release a digital version of the Constituent Assembly Debates, a calligraphed copy of the Constitution of India, and updated version of the document that will include all current amendments.
He will also inaugurate the "Online Quiz on Constitutional Democracy".
Meanwhile, opposition parties have accused the government of violating the Indian Constitution at its whim and fancy, calling the "celebrations" a stunt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the nation's ruling party.
The decision to boycott the event was taken during a Congress’ Party parliamentary strategy group meeting held at party president Sonia Gandhi's residence in New Delhi.
A Congress politician told mediapersons after the meeting that the decision had been taken to protest the government's "disrespect" toward the opposition, its refusal to pay heed to their demands, and hurried passage of bills in parliament.
Trinamool Congress parliamentarian Mahua Moitra on Friday called the celebrations "ironic".
Sharing a video of a speech by India's first Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Congress said quoting him, that the Indian "Constitution must not be made a plaything of some fickle thought or some fickle fortune".
In another tweet, Congress said in Hindi: "The attacks on the Constitution and farmers have increased during the regime of the Modi government. The freedom we received after a huge struggle is being crushed and the Modi government is determined to convert democracy into dictatorship".
Congress politician Udit Raj slammed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent organisation of the BJP, for "disrespecting" the Indian Constitution and the national flag.
Shiv Sena parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi tried to explain through a tweet what the Indian Constitution stands for and said it is just "a reminder".
The BJP's head of National Information and Technology Department Amit Malviya slammed the opposition parties and called it "an insult to Dr Ambedkar".
Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (B.R. Ambedkar) was an Indian jurist, economist, and social reformer who fought economic and social discrimination against the untouchables (now Dalits) in India.
He served as chairman of the drafting committee for the Constitution of India, and Minister of Law and Justice in the first cabinet of Pt. Nehru from 1947 to 1951.
Federal minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrashekhar also slammed Congress and other opposition parties for skipping the event.
In 2019, opposition parties had skipped the programme and instead gathered around Dr B.R. Ambedkar's statue in the parliament complex to read the Indian Constitution to register their protest.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi led the protest and read out the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. Former party president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were also present.
The opposition was protesting against developments in the state of Maharashtra, where a BJP-led administration was sworn in on 23 November 2019 even though a prospective alliance of opposition parties had chosen a state chief and seemed poised to claim the right to form a government.