As Narendra Modi prepared to inaugurate India’s controversial new Parliament building on Sunday, India’s cartoonists got busy pointing out the absurdities of the situation.

To some, the decision to omit President Droupadi Murmu, the constitutional head of state, from the ceremony was a major lapse.

The absence of the president from this significant national event has prompted many Opposition parities to boycott the Sunday’s ceremony.

Not everyone has been impressed by the Opposition’s protest.

What has drawn even greater mirth is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision to make the installation of a sengol or sceptre a key part of the inauguration ceremony. The party has claimed, with dubious historical sources to back up its contentions, that the sengol had been presented to the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru by British Viceroy Louis Mountbatten as a symbol of the transfer to power in 1947. It has been in a museum in Prayagraj since then.

Satish Acharya pointed out that this may just be a case of “WhatsApp history”.

Orijit Sen used a Tintin title to parody the plans, depicting Modi in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh uniform, swinging the sengol like an RSS baton and calling for the photographers. He also notes that the inauguration is being held on the birth anniversary of Hindutva icon VD Savarkar.

Manjul emphasised the paradox of deploying a symbol of monarchy in a democratic country.

Ashish Bagchi highlighted the fact that the building is being inaugurated when India’s rankings on global indexes relating to hunger, poverty and other areas are plumteting.

The prime minister’s narcissism gave Sajith Kumar a laugh.

Satish Acharya pointed out that the sengol, which was used the Chola kings of ancient Tamil Nadu, was an attempt by the BJP to garner support in South India.

Ponnappa has the last word.