Congress president Rahul Gandhi was made to sit in the sixth row during the Republic Day Parade, prompting an angry reaction from his party that accused the Government of setting aside tradition and indulging in “cheap politics”.
Gandhi was seated in the sixth row along with leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad. However, BJP president Amit Shah was in the front row.
Congress media incharge Randeep Surjewala said the Modi Government’s “cheap politics” was at display when it broke tradition and denied the party president a front-row seat.
As long as Sonia Gandhi was the party president, she occupied a front row seat at the Republic Day Parade.
“The Modi Government's cheap politics is for all to see. The Congress president was deliberately made to sit in the sixth row, after initially assigning him a fourth-row seat, at the Republic Day celebrations by the arrogant rulers, who set aside all past traditions. For us the celebration of the Constitution is foremost,” Surjewala tweeted in Hindi.
He also tagged a picture of Gandhi seated along with Azad at the Republic Day function.
Former Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh were seen seated in the front row in the picture, followed by Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Thawarchand Gehlot.
Senior party leader Salman Khurshid said it was “more an issue of good manners than protocols. “It's sad if those in power think somebody's stature is decided by where that person is seated,” Khurshid said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Jaipur literature Festival here, he said India values protocols, but beyond protocols “there is something called good manners”.
“Rahul Gandhi is not just a Congress MP anymore. He is also the president of India's largest Opposition party. And if the ruling party doesn't understand that position, it is unfortunate.”
Government sources said that as per the protocol, the leader of Opposition is accorded a seat in the seventh row. But Congress leader said Rahul has to be treated as president of the Congress and not mere Opposition leader.