'It doesn't matter...he holds a special place in every Indian's heart': Pawan Khera on alloting 5th seat in 5th row to Rahul Gandhi on I-Day - World News Network

New Delhi [India], August 15 (ANI): Amid controversy over making Rahul Gandhi “sit in the fifth row” at the Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort in the national capital, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Thursday said that it doesn’t matter as the Lok Sabha LoP holds a special place in the hearts of all Indians.
“It just doesnt matter to Rahul Gandhi where they make him sit, he occupies a special place in the heart of every single Indian. They tried to push him out of the Parliament because he named Gautam Adani last time but he won the case and came back with a better majority,” Khera told ANI.
The controversy erupted when Rahul Gandhi was seen sitting in the fifth row with India’s Olympic contingent during the Independence Day celebrations. His seat, number 5 in the fifth row, was notably behind other dignitaries. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, was also allocated a seat next to Rahul Gandhi but did not attend the function.
According to protocol, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is typically assigned a seat in the front row. However, Defense Ministry sources stated that this year’s sitting arrangements followed the protocol table of precedence, which prioritized honouring Olympic winners.
“Defence Ministry followed the protocol table of precedence. This year, it was decided to honour the Olympic winners,” Defence Ministry Sources.
Khera alleged that the sitting arrangements were a form of retaliation by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh for being challenged by Gandhi on the Agniveer issue. Alternatively, he suggested that it might have been done at the Prime Minister’s behest.
“This shows that either Rajnath Singh is avenging the fact that he got completely cornered by Rahul Gandhi on the Agniveer issue both inside the House and outside the House or it could be the Prime Minister asking his defence Minister to do this. It does not matter to Rahul Gandhi at all, he was enjoying himself sitting with our (Olympic) medalist and our Olympian and sports person but it shows the narrow thinking of the Prime Minister,” Khera told ANI.
Khera further pointed out that when Congress was in power, they never did this and would always give first or second-row seats to senior leaders of the opposition.
“His allocated seat was the fifth seat in the fifth row. But we never did that when we were in power. They (BJP) should learn how to adhere to norms. Whenever Mr (Arun) Jaitley (or any) senior leaders would come to attend such government functions they would be given first row or second row (seats) when we were in power but you can’t expect the same from an intellectually pygmy kind of a man,” Congress leader Khera told ANI.
Pawan Khera further targeted the BJP saying, “They (BJP) have been switching his (Rahul Gandhi) mic when he stands up to make a point which makes the Prime Minister uncomfortable, suddenly his (Rahul) mic goes off. If he (Rahul Gandhi) is showing something the camera goes off and the camera is focused on the Speaker instead of Rahul Gandhi, even when he (Rahul Gandhi) is speaking. This only shows the mindset of the Prime Minister and the government, I won’t blame the government it’s the Prime Minister.”
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate claimed that Prime Minister Modi is a person with a “petty mindset” and he keeps on giving proof.
“It is futile to expect big things from small-minded people. Narendra Modi certainly showed his frustration by making Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sit in the fifth row during the Independence Day celebrations, but this did not make any difference to Rahul Gandhi and he will keep raising issues of the people as he has been doing,” Supriya Shrinate said in a video statement on X.
“However, it shows that you and your government do not have any respect for democracy, democratic traditions and the Leader of Opposition,” she added.
Shrinate said the rank of the Leader of the Opposition is that of a cabinet minister and the ministers of the government were sitting in the first row.
“Not only Rahul Gandhi was made to sit in the fifth row but Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s designated place was also in the fifth row,” she said.
“A foolish statement has come from the defence ministry that ‘this was done as we wanted to honour Olympians’. They should be honoured and so should Vinesh Phogat, but did Amit Shah, J P Nadda, S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman, not want to honour them?” Shrinate added.
Shrinate further said that the Leader of the Opposition is important because he makes the government accountable and raises people’s issues.
Additionally, Pawan Khera criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anti-corruption stance, noting that many individuals previously branded as corrupt by PM Modi are now part of the BJP.
Khera told ANI, “We all saw how he (PM Modi) fought corruption. In the last ten years the people who he (PM Modi) named as corrupt leaders in the country, Ashok Chavan, Praful Patel, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Suvendu Adhikari, Ajit Pawar can he (PM Modi) mention these names again? They are all with the Prime Minister now. Is this the way to fight against corruption? Either they were honest and he was wrong in calling them corrupt or if they were corrupt why are they with him?” (ANI)

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