A row erupted over the seating arrangement for the swearing in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu on Monday with some leaders claiming Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha M Mallikarjun Kharge was not accorded a seat commensurate with his position. Rejecting it, the government said he was offered a seat in the front row on a par with union ministers.
The issue flared up after several opposition leaders wrote to the Rajya Sabha chairman claiming Kharge was not accorded a seat matching his position. The leaders, including those from the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Rashtriya Janata Dal, were signatories to the letter and expressed shock at “deliberate disrespect” shown to Kharge. Jairam Ramesh(Congress) shared the letter on Twitter and said, "Letter submitted to Hon'ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha by all Opposition Parties (including TMC) just now." "Today, at the swearing-in ceremony of the Hon'ble President, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha was made to sit in a seat not commensurate with the position he holds," the opposition leaders said in their letter. "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," the leaders said. Kharge was seated in the front row but at the extreme left corner of the Central Hall during the swearing in ceremony. BJP chief JP Nadda and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had more prominent seats, the Congress alleged, calling it "deliberate insult by the Home Ministry".
Rebutting the charge, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said, “According to the protocol set by the Union Home Ministry, the seat is given in the third row.” However, at the farewell function, he was offered a seat in the first row instead of the third.
Joshi also said Kharge was provided with a seat in the first row on Monday. When he still complained that it was on the corner, the staff offered to move him to the centre, but he refused. On Saturday, for the farewell function, Kharge was duly invited. He had been allotted a seat close to the Prime Minister. But he did not show up. In a way, it was an insult to the outgoing President, the Chairman and the Speaker, Joshi said.
Joshi said there was no violation of protocol in the oath-taking ceremony of the President. "In the order of precedence, leader of opposition is after all Cabinet ministers. Strictly going by that his seat comes in third row. But to respect seniority of Kharge ji, he was provided seat in first row itself," Joshi said.
“Today they are making an issue of a non-issue. In spite of order of precedence, we tried to accommodate them in first row. Majority of Cabinet ministers sat in second row," Joshi said.
Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal charged the Congress with misleading the public with a "baseless" allegation on the seating arrangement for Kharge. Raising this issue in the Rajya Sabha with it reassembled at three pm, Goyal contested the Opposition's charge, saying the Leader of Opposition is seated in the third row in the order of precedence of rank, but Kharge was made to sit in the front row.
"When we saw LOP in the front row, we were very happy. As per the order of precedence, he was kept in the front row instead of the third row. When it was observed that he was in the corner, a staff member requested him to shift to the middle. But he rejected," he said. This shows the "mindset of the Opposition," he added.
Goyal said the Ministry of Home Affairs had made the seating arrangement at the President's oath ceremony in accordance with the table of rank and precedence.
Accordingly, the LOP comes in the seventh order after cabinet ministers of the union, principal secretaries to the PM, national security advisor, and chief ministers of the states. Going by this order, the LOP is to be seated in the third row, but he was made to sit in the front row, he said.