New Delhi: Congress on Monday accused the Modi authorities of violating set protocols after opposition leaders from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, have been made to take a seat within the third row of VIP seats throughout the Republic Day parade on Kartaviya Street in Delhi.
The occasion known as this a deliberate downplay and stated the seating association was a departure from long-standing apply during which opposition leaders are given front-row seats alongside ministers and different constitutional officers.
A number of opposition leaders expressed their anger over the difficulty, declaring with images that previously, when parliament was the ruling occasion within the central parliament, opposition leaders at all times sat within the entrance row.
“Does such therapy of opposition leaders on this nation meet any requirements of decorum, custom and protocol? This solely reveals the frustration of a authorities tormented by an inferiority complicated,” Congress common secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala wrote in X.
Does such motion in opposition to the nation’s opposition chief meet requirements of decorum, custom and protocol?
This solely exhibits the frustration of the federal government, which suffers from an inferiority complicated.
There could also be variations in democracy, however Mr. @RahulGandhi This habits is unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/b4mdU9BU7G
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 26, 2026
This isn’t the primary time {that a} political controversy has erupted over perceived disrespect in direction of Rahul at a public operate. On the 2024 Independence Day ceremony on the Crimson Fort, Rahul’s assigned seat was within the fifth row alongside a gaggle of athletes who had participated within the Paris Olympics.
On the time, Congress condemned this as an insult to democratic traditions and the Indian individuals. In response to the protocol precedence record, opposition leaders in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will probably be given seats on par with ministers, chief ministers and even former chief ministers.
In 2018, the Congress had slammed the Modi authorities after Rahul, then the occasion president, was allotted a sixth row seat at a Republic Day celebration.
On Monday, a number of Congress officers additionally posted photos of BJP leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, who have been leaders of opposition throughout the Congress-led UPA period, occupying entrance row seats on the then-held Republic Day parade.
Congress MP and Lok Sabha whip Manickam Tagore shared one such picture on social media and wrote, “This was in 2014. Look the place LK Advani Ji was sitting then.” “Why is that this protocol in disarray now? Is it as a result of Modi and Shah wish to insult Kharge Ji and Rahul Ji? You can’t insult opposition leaders like this, particularly on Republic Day.”
This was in 2014. Look the place LK Advani ji was sitting then.
Why is that this protocol so complicated now?
Is it as a result of Modi and Shah wish to insult Kharge Ji and Rahul Ji?You can’t insult an opposition chief like this, particularly on Republic Day.#RepublicDay https://t.co/1zUMsILyDX pic.twitter.com/tPOlpaGKTG
— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳Manickam Tagore (@manickamtagore) January 26, 2026
Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tanha additionally issued a press release criticizing the seat association, saying it was in all probability unimaginable to count on the ruling occasion to deal with its political opponents with leniency.
“Now we have a structure the place opposition events are at all times handled with respect. Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi maintain a particular place in nationwide politics. Making them take a backseat is an insult to the nation and its constitutional system,” Tanka stated.
(Edited by Varnika Dhawan)
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