‘Kharge disprected at President’s swearing-in’: Opposition writes to RS chairman
The Opposition parties alleged that leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was made to sit in a seat ‘not commensurate with the position he holds’ during the swearing-in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu
The Opposition parties on Monday alleged that leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was not provided with a seat “commensurate with the position he holds” during the swearing-in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu.
The parties expressed their “shock and protest” over the issue in a letter written to Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh shared the letter on Twitter and said that it was submitted to the Rajya Sabha chairman by all Opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
“We are writing to express our shock and protest at this deliberate disrespect shown to a very senior leader violating the warrant of precedence and not in accordance with protocol courtesies due to him,” said the letter, signed by the National Congress Party’s (NCP) Vandana Chavan, Communist Party of India’s (CPI) Binoy Viswam, Congress’ Mukul Wasnik, Pramod Tiwari and Jairam Ramesh among others.
Reacting to the allegation, Union parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi said Kharge was seated in the first row despite the protocol of positioning the leader of Opposition in the third. “When he still complained that it was on the corner, the staff offered to move him to the centre, but he refused,” Joshi told news agency ANI.
He further said Kharge was invited to the farewell event organised for former President Ramnath Kovind on Saturday, where he was allotted a seat close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Kharge “didn’t show up”, he added. “In a way, it was an insult to the outgoing president, the chairman (of the Rajya Sabha) and the speaker (of the Lok Sabha),” said Joshi.
Reacting to the letter, a BJP functionary said the Congress was creating a fuss. “Sonia Gandhi is their leader and she was seated prominently in the front row. Even Kharge was seated in the front row. At the reception that was hosted for President Kovind’s farewell, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha) was also seated in the front row,” the functionary said.
Droupadi Murmu took oath on Monday as the 15th President of India at a ceremony in Parliament’s central hall in New Delhi. The former Jharkhand governor, who represented the BJP-led ruling NDA in the July 18 presidential polls, defeated the joint opposition candidate, ex-Union minister Yashwant Sinha, securing 64% of the total valid votes. The counting of votes was held on July 21.
Murmu, who is the first tribal and second woman to hold the country’s highest constitutional office, was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India NV Ramanna. She succeeds Ram Nath Kovind, whose five-year term ended on Sunday.
