Third row seats for Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul; Congress says Leaders of Opposition insulted

On Monday, January 26, 2026, the Congress accused the BJP government of insulting Opposition Leaders in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge by making them sit in the third row during the Republic Day parade on Kartavya Road.

Many Congress leaders, who shared photos of their leaders sitting in the back rows during the ceremony, raised questions about “protocol confusion” and compliance.

Congress chief Kharge was seen sitting in the third row along with Rahul Gandhi for the first time. He was later moved to the front row alongside former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Posting a photo of Rahul Gandhi and Mr Kharge sitting in the third row, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said on X: “Does such treatment of the opposition leader in the country comply with any standards of etiquette, custom and protocol?” “This just reveals the frustration of a government suffering from an inferiority complex.

“Differences will continue in democracy, but this treatment meted out to Shri Rahul Gandhi is unacceptable,” Mr. Surjewala said in his Hindi post.

Congress leader Vivek Tankha also shared the photo on

“The way opposition leaders were treated during the Republic Day celebrations, I do not expect anything better from the party currently in power in today’s environment. It is unfortunate that democracy has suffered due to these petty actions of the ruling party,” Mr. Tankha said in another post.

However, the BJP said the Congress had once again put rights and ‘parivar’ above people and asked why Mr Gandhi had earlier skipped important events like the swearing-in of the Vice President and Chief Justice of India.

Mr Gandhi’s seating arrangements at Republic Day and Independence Day ceremonies have sparked controversy in the past.

Mr Tankha said in his video message that he was surprised and saddened to see Mr Gandhi sitting in the third row. He said he did not remember similar treatment meted out to Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley when they were Leader of Opposition.

“Both Kharge ji and Rahul ji have a special place in Indian politics and to seat them in the backbenches is not an insult to them but to the nation. You are insulting the Constitutional institutions,” Mr. Tankha said.

“It seems impossible to expect respect from the BJP government as such things can happen if such institutions are held in high esteem and fight for the protection of democracy and join the freedom movement,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Manickam Tagore, Congress leader and the party’s whip in the Lok Sabha, shared another photo from the past where LK Advani is sitting in the front row with his daughter. In the photo, many Union Ministers and Sonia Gandhi were also seen sitting in the same row.

“This was in 2014; look at where LK Advani ji was sitting then. Why is this protocol messed up now? Is it because Mr Modi and Mr Shah wanted to insult Kharge ji and Rahul ji? “Opposition leaders cannot be insulted like this, especially on Republic Day,” Mr Tagore said in his post.

Sitting back, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said about X: “Congress is once again placing authority and ego, parivar and position above people”.

“They think Parivar Tantra is above Sanvidhan Tantra. Seating arrangement is decided according to a certain format – Table of Authority or Seniority. You can even see senior cabinet ministers around and even behind Rahul Gandhi but none of them made it an issue,” Mr. Poonawala said in his post.

“Rahul thinks he owns India? By the way, why is he shelving important programmes? Where was he during the Vice President’s Oath? CJI Oath? I-Day programme?” asked the BJP leader.