Leader of Opposition of Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Rahul Gandhi's seating position at the 78th Independence Day celebrations on Thursday drew attention and debate on social media. For the first time in a decade, a Leader of the Opposition was present at the event, yet Gandhi was seen in the last row, seated with India's Olympic contingent.
Gandhi, representing Wayanad, was dressed in a white kurta-pajama and was positioned beside India's hockey team forward Gurjant Singh. Traditionally, the Leader of the Opposition, a position equivalent in rank to a cabinet minister, is allocated a seat in the front row. Medal winners like Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh, as well as members of the bronze-winning hockey team including captain Harmanpreet Singh and PR Sreejesh, were seated ahead of Gandhi.
The Ministry of Defence, responsible for organizing the Independence Day program, clarified that Gandhi's seat was shifted to the last row to accommodate Olympic medallists in the front rows, according to an India Today report.
The position of Leader of the Opposition had been vacant since the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA won the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as no opposition parties secured the necessary number of seats. Rahul Gandhi was appointed Leader of the Opposition on June 25, following Congress's increase in seats from 52 to 99 in the 2019 polls.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the national flag and addressed the nation from the Red Fort in Delhi. This marked Modi’s 11th consecutive Independence Day address as Prime Minister. He began the day by paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat before heading to the Red Fort for the celebrations.