Subhechcha Ganguly 
The Congress on Monday alleged that seating arrangements for senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge at the Republic Day parade on Kartavya Path violated established protocol, once again triggering a political exchange over conventions followed at national ceremonies.
Congress MP and general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala raised the issue after visuals showed Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge seated in the third row during the parade. Sharing an image on social media, Surjewala questioned whether such treatment met the standards of decorum, tradition and protocol expected in a democracy.
“Does this treatment of the Leader of Opposition reflect any sense of decorum, tradition or protocol? It only exposes the frustration of a government suffering from an inferiority complex,” he said, adding that political differences are natural in a democracy but the manner in which Rahul Gandhi was seated was “unacceptable”.
Later during the event, Mallikarjun Kharge — who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha — was seen seated in the front row alongside Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The issue was also flagged by other Congress leaders. Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha termed the seating arrangement a “sheer lack of protocol and grace”, sharing photographs of Rahul Gandhi and Kharge seated away from the front rows at Kartavya Path.
The controversy has revived a recurring debate over protocol at national events. Seating at state ceremonies such as the Republic Day parade is governed by the Warrant (Order) of Precedence, which ranks dignitaries according to the constitutional or official positions they hold, not political affiliation. The precedence list is issued by the President’s Secretariat and maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Leaders of Opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are included in the list and are accorded senior status, though they rank below the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Union cabinet ministers and certain constitutional authorities. Officials have previously clarified that seating arrangements may vary each year based on security requirements, logistics and the number of dignitaries attending.
This is not the first time the issue has surfaced. In 2018, the Congress objected to Rahul Gandhi — then party president — being seated several rows behind, calling it “cheap politics”. The following year, he was given a front-row seat, which some viewed as a response to the earlier criticism. Similar discussions emerged during Independence Day celebrations in 2024 after visuals showed Rahul Gandhi seated towards the back rows alongside Olympic medallists.
While the Opposition maintains that long-standing conventions are being overlooked, the government has consistently denied the allegations, asserting that seating at the Republic Day parade is determined strictly in accordance with official protocol.
