Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge skipped the Independence Day celebrations at Delhi’s Red Fort for the second consecutive year.
Reacting to their absence, the BJP said Rahul Gandhi is not fit to be the Leader of the Opposition and alleged that his thinking resembles an ‘ideological Naxal’ ecosystem.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari wrote on X: “Rahul avoids being present at the Red Fort. Can any patriotic Leader of the Opposition or public office-holder deliberately do this?” He also claimed that Gandhi’s decision to skip the ceremony shows his ‘hatred’ for Vande Mataram.
The Defence Ministry had formally invited both Gandhi and Kharge to the Independence Day celebrations. However, neither attended the event.
Their absence is reportedly linked to a controversy in 2024, when Gandhi had expressed displeasure over his seating arrangement at the ceremony.
In 2024, Rahul Gandhi was seated in the 5th row.
2024 controversy over being seated in the back row
Rahul Gandhi became the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in 2024. That year, he was seated in the fifth row at the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort. The Congress strongly criticised the arrangement, alleging that the government had insulted the office of the Leader of the Opposition by seating Gandhi further back.
Responding to the allegations, however, the Defence Ministry said the seating arrangement had to be changed that year to give special recognition and front-row seating to the Olympic athletes attending the ceremony.
Opposition Leader sits alongside Cabinet Ministers
According to the Defence Ministry, the Leader of the Opposition’s seating at the Independence Day ceremony is determined under the ‘Table of Precedence’ (ToP). As per the rules of the President’s Secretariat, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha holds the rank of a Union Cabinet Minister, and the seating arrangement is accordingly made.
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