Congress outraged as LoP Rahul Gandhi seated in back row at Red Fort event: ‘Not expected from you Rajnath ji’

As per protocol, the LOP, with a rank equivalent to a cabinet minister, is always assigned a seat in the front row.

The Congress party on Thursday hit out at the Narendra Modi government for making the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi "sit in the fifth row" at the Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with the Paris Olympics 2024 medal winning contingent and others during the 78th Independence Day celebration at the Red Fort. (PTI)

As Prime Minister Modi addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, visuals of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sitting in the second last row behind the Olympic medallists caught the attention.

The LOP, with a rank equivalent to a cabinet minister, is always assigned a front-row seat as per the table of precedence.

However, on Thursday, the front row was occupied by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Amit Shah, and S Jaishankar among others.

Wearing a white kurta-pajama, Gandhi was seen sitting behind Indian medalists from the Paris Olympics 2024. Star Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh, and hockey players, including captain Harmanpreet Singh and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, were seated ahead of Rahul Gandhi.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate claimed that Prime Minister Modi is a person with a "petty mindset" and he keeps giving proof of that himself.

"It is futile to expect big things from small-minded people. Narendra Modi certainly showed his frustration by making Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sit in the fifth row during the Independence Day celebrations, but this does not make any difference to Rahul Gandhi and he will keep raising issues of the people as he has been doing," she said in a video statement on X.

"However, it shows that you and your government do not have any respect for democracy, democratic traditions and the Leader of Opposition," she added.

Congress leader Vivek Tankha said in a post on X, "Why is MOD acting so petty!! Rahul Gandhi, the LOP Lok Sabha seated on 4th row. LOP is higher than any Cabinet minister. He is next to Prime Minister in Lok Sabha. Rajnath Singh ji , u can’t allow MOD to politicise national functions !! Not expected from you Rajnath ji."

What did the government say?

Sources in the Defence Ministry told India Today that Rahul Gandhi had to be shifted back, as the front rows were allocated to the Olympic medal winners, a clarification Congress termed “foolish”.

"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?" Shrinate said.

Significance of LOP

This was the first time since 2014 that a Leader of Opposition (LOP) was attending the celebrations at Red Fort. In the 2014 and 2019 general elections, the Congress party had won only 44 and 52 seats, respectively in the 543-member Lok Sabha, making it ineligible to nominate an MP as LoP. The position requires a party to win at least 10 per cent of the seats in Lok Saba.

In the 2024 general elections, the Congress party, as part of the INDIA bloc, secured 99 seats, and Rahul Gandhi was nominated as the LoP.

The previous NDA government under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had allocated a seat in the front row to then LoP Sonia Gandhi.