A political row erupted on Monday after the Congress accused the Centre of “insulting” the Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) over the seating arrangement at the Republic Day parade. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, has hit back at the allegations.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore questioned this “protocol mess-up,” while sharing a photograph of the 2014 Republic Day Parade, when LK Advani was given a seat in the front row in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.
“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,” Manickam Tagore said in a post on X.
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Senior Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said in a post on X, “This is sheer lack of protocol and grace!! Maybe too much to expect in present times !!”
Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “The country was freed by Congress. Wherever they seat us, this country is ours.”
Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala said the seating arrangement “reveals the frustration of a government.”
“Does such treatment of the leader of the opposition in the country meet the standards of any decorum, tradition, and protocol? This only reveals the frustration of a government plagued by an inferiority complex. In a democracy, differences will persist, but this treatment meted out to Shri Rahul Gandhi is unacceptable,” he said.
Congress MP Kumari Selja told IANS, “The BJP wants to show that they can’t respect anyone else. What faith do they have in our democracy, in our politics? If they sit in the third row and try to humiliate both the leaders of our party and the president of our party, then the public is looking at what the BJP’s point of view is…”
What does the protocol say?
The Leaders of Opposition in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are placed seventh in order of precedence alongside Cabinet Ministers of the Union and following the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Governors, former Presidents, Chief Justice of India (CJI), and more.
The order is applicable for state and ceremonial occasions and has no application in the day-to-day business of the government.
BJP hits back
While the opposition party has accused the government of failing to maintain protocol, the BJP has hit back, and the party’s National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari, in a post on X, slammed the Congress for politicising the seating arrangement during the Republic Day parade.
“Shameful of the Congress to politicise even the seating arrangement at the Republic Day. Rahul Gandhi is not worried that he sat on thr third row; he is trying to deflect when he was caught busy on his phone; when the country was celebraring Brahmos in the defense line up at Kartavya Path,” he wrote in the post.
Republic Day 2026 celebrations
India’s 77th Republic Day parade concluded on Monday after a showcase of the country’s military might and diverse culture at Kartavya Path.
After the parade and after seeing off the President and the visiting foreign dignitaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept with his custom of walking along the Kartavya Path.
At the end of the ceremony, President Droupadi Murmu, along with Republic Day Parade Chief Guests, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and President of the European Council, Antonio Luis Santos da Costa, were escorted by the President’s Bodyguard, also known as ‘Rashtrapati Ke Angrakshak,’ as they departed for Rashtrapati Bhavan.
(with agencies’ inputs)
