Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 26: The seating arrangements at the Republic Day Parade on Kartavya Path on Monday has again sparked a political row with the Congress raising strong objections to the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and the party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, were made to sit on the third row.
The Opposition’s objection to seating arrangements at the Republic Day parade have sparked political sparring multiple times in the past. On Monday, the Congress general secretary and MP, Randeep Singh Surjewala flagged the seating arrangements made for Mr Gandhi and Mr Kharge at the parade and accused the BJP government at the Centre of being suffering from inferiority complex.
Mr Surjewala shared an image of the two leaders seated in the third row and alleged a lack of protocol and “decorum.” “Does such treatment of the leader of the opposition in the country meet the standards of any decorum, tradition, and protocol? This only reveals the frustration of a government plagued by an inferiority complex,” he said. He said in a democracy differences would persist, but the treatment meted out to Rahul Gandhi “is unacceptable.”
Mr Kharge though was later seen seated in the front row alongside Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Another Congress leader raised the seating in a post on X. The Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha also raised objections. “This is sheer lack of protocol & grace!! May be too much to expect in the present times!! #RahulGandhi #Khargeji”, along with a picture showing the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Congress president seated away from the front rows at Kartavya Path.
The posts bring back the political debate over the Opposition alleging established conventions are not followed, an allegation that the government has in the past denied by saying that seating at the Republic Day parade is determined strictly by official protocol.
Seating at state ceremonies such as the Republic Day parade is allotted according to the Warrant (Order) of Precedence, which ranks constitutional or official position held by dignitaries, not on political affiliation.
The Warrant (Order) of Precedence is issued by the President’s Secretariat and maintained by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are included in the precedence list, and are accorded senior status among political leaders, though they rank below the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Union cabinet ministers and certain constitutional authorities.
Officials have earlier clarified in similar controversies that political leaders, including those from the Opposition, are seated in designated VIP enclosures as per their rank in the precedence list; and that row numbers can vary each year depending on security, logistics, and the total number of dignitaries present.
This is not the first time that seating arrangements at the Republic Day parade have drawn criticism from opposition parties. At the 2018 parade, the Congress objected to the seating of Rahul Gandhi — then party president — saying he had been placed in one of the fourth to sixth row seats instead of the front row traditionally given to party chiefs. Congress leaders described the arrangement as “cheap politics.”
After the 2018 controversy, the 2019 Republic Day parade saw Rahul Gandhi being given a front-row seat, what some said was a correction from organisers following the previous year’s debate.
Independence Day celebrations at the iconic Red Fort of Delhi also made headlines for the same reason in 2024 after visuals of Rahul Gandhi sitting in the second-last row with Olympic medalists sparked chatter on social media.
Sources in the Ministry of Defence had then said the Congress leader had to be shifted back as the front rows were allocated to the Olympic medal winners. The Ministry of Defence conducts the Independence Day event and making the seating plans. Sources had then said the Leader of Opposition is normally given a seat in the first few rows as per protocol.
