Congress fumes over ‘back-row seat insult’ to Kharge, Rahul at R-Day parade
Both Kharge and Rahul were seen seated in the third row at the VIP enclosure erected on the Kartavya Path where the Republic Day parade took place
The Congress on Monday (January 26) accused the BJP-led Centre of breaking protocol by allotting back-row seats to party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition (LOP) Rahul Gandhi for the 77th Republic Day parade in Delhi.
The principal opposition party blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the “insult” and sought clarification whether they wanted to deride its leaders by not allotting front-row seats to them for the function.
Both Kharge and Rahul were seen seated in the third row at the VIP enclosure erected on the Kartavya Path where the Republic Day parade took place.
2014 vs 2026
Congress MP Manickam Tagore, who is the Lok Sabha Whip of the party, slammed the “protocol mess-up”. He shared an image of BJP veteran LK Advani seated in the front row during the 2014 Republic Day parade when the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government was in power.
“This was in 2014—look at where LK Advani-ji was seated then. Why this protocol mess-up now? Is it because Modi and Shah want to insult Kharge-ji and Rahul-ji? Leaders of the Opposition cannot be insulted like this, especially on Republic Day,” he said.
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It is to be noted, however, that Advani, a senior BJP leader, was not the Leader of Opposition in January 2014; it was Sushma Swaraj.
Senior Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said on X, “This is sheer lack of protocol and grace!! Maybe too much to expect in present times !!”
Series of ‘insults’
Senior Lok Sabha MP Tariq Anwar called it “deeply unfortunate”, saying the Leader of the Opposition traditionally holds a special status. He said the post is often regarded as equivalent to a “shadow prime minister” in the Westminster system of government, after which the Indian one is modelled too.
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This is not the isolated incident when the Congress has complained about the “ill treatment” of its leaders during official functions. During the 2024 Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort, Rahul was seated in the sixth row, after which both Kharge and Rahul skipped the Independence Day function at Red Fort in 2025.
In 2018 also, there was a row after Rahul, then the Congress president, was allotted a sixth-row seat during the Republic Day parade.
