A fresh standoff ensued between Congress and BJP after Rahul Gandhi was made to sit alongside Rajya Sabha’s leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad in the sixth row during Friday’s Republic Day Parade.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala blamed BJP for indulging in “cheap politics” by allotting a sixth-row seat to Rahul Gandhi, when tradition dictates party presidents to always get a front seat during celebrations on Rajpath.
BJP spokesperson Anil Baluni defended the government by arguing that Congress governments in the past had themselves set this precedent by seating former BJP presidents Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh at the back on previous occasions, and that Narendra Modi’s government had in fact broken that tradition by giving front row seats to Sonia Gandhi for the past three years.
There had been reports on the eve of Republic Day stating that Gandhi would be made to sit in the fourth-row, but was later shifted two rows behind before the parade. BJP spokespersons also said that requests from the Special Protection Group could have been the reason behind the government’s decision, and that the controversy should not be blown out of proportion.