Congress asks why no front row for Rahul Gandhi at Independence Day event

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday questioned the government, particularly the Ministry of Defence, for not providing a seat to Rahul Gandhi in the first row at the Red Fort Independence Day event despite him being the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.

While Congress MP Vivek Tankha said Gandhi was seated in the "fourth row", Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate later alleged that the Modi government showed "its pettiness and lack of respect for democratic conventions" by seating LoP Gandhi in the "fifth row".

A couple years ago, when the party had questioned the government after LoP, Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge was similarly seated during the Independence Day event, the ruling side responded by citing the order of precedence in protocol and the precedents from the past regimes.