The seating arrangement at the Independence Day celebrations, where Congress's Rahul Gandhi, in a departure from tradition and protocol, was assigned a seat in the second last row, has opened up a new front between the Congress and the BJP. Before the morning's ceremony got over, social media started buzzing with indignant protests from Congress's leaders and supporters. The Defence ministry, which was organising the event, issued a clarification, but failed to stem the tide of criticism.
Protocol dictates that the Leader of the Opposition, who enjoys cabinet rank, is seated in the front row during ceremonial events. This year, that row was occupied by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Amit Shah, and S Jaishankar among others.
Mr Gandhi was seen seated in the fifth row, behind Indian Olympic medalists. Star Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh, and hockey players, including Indian Captain Harmanpreet Singh and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, were seated ahead of him.
Sources in the ministry said the seating arrangement at ceremonial events follows a table of precedence and protocol. "This year, it was decided to honour the Olympic Games medal winners. It may be noted that some Union Ministers were also seated behind the Olympic Games medal winners," a source said.
The explanation was shredded by the Congress.
"The Defence Ministry's feeble explanation that it was out of "respect for Olympians" doesn't cut much ice. While Olympians deserve every bit of respect, I wonder how Cabinet Ministers like Amit Shah or Nirmala Sitharaman ji get front row seats ahead of them," posted senior Congress leader KC Venugopal on X, formerly Twitter.
"As per protocol, the LoPs of both Houses must also be seated in the front row, but the seats for Rahul ji and INC President Shri Mallikarjun @kharge ji were in the 5th row. This was not only an insult to the post of LoP or Rahul ji; it was an insult to the people of India, whose voice Rahul ji represents in Parliament," Mr Venugopal added.
"A foolish statement has come from the defence ministry that 'this was done as we wanted to honour Olympians'. They should be honoured and so should Vinesh Phogat, but did Amit Shah, J P Nadda, S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman, not want to honour them?" said party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.
Party leader Manickam Tagore pointed that in the past, the UPA government had shown proper respect to Opposition leaders and shared an image as evidence.
The NDA government led by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had allocated a seat in the front row to then Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi.
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