February 15, 2026 11:10 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Rs 5,000 to women ahead of Tamil Nadu polls! Vijay slams Stalin, says: ‘take the money, blow the whistle’ | Modi congratulates Tarique Rahman as BNP clinches majority in Bangladesh polls | Bangladesh Polls: Tarique Rahman-led BNP secures 'absolute majority' with 151 seats in historic comeback | BJP MP files notice to cancel Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership, seeks life-long ban | Arrested in the morning, out by evening: Tycoon’s son walks free in Lamborghini crash case | ‘Why should you denigrate a section of society?’: Supreme Court pulls up ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’ makers | Bangladesh poll manifestos mirror India’s welfare schemes as BNP, Jamaat bet big on women, freebies | Drama ends: Pakistan makes U-turn on India boycott, to play T20 World Cup clash as per schedule | ‘Won’t allow any impediment in SIR’: Supreme Court pulls up Mamata govt over delay in sharing officers’ details | India-US trade deal: ‘Negotiations always two-way’, says Amul MD amid farmers’ concerns
I-Day
Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from X post

Rahul Gandhi becomes first Leader of Opposition in 10 years to attend Independence Day celebrations

| @indiablooms | Aug 15, 2024, at 07:28 pm

New Delhi/IBNS: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday became the first Leader of Opposition in 10 years to attend the celebrations for the 78th Independence Day at Red Fort in New Delhi.

Gandhi was seen sitting with Olympics medalists Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh, bronze-winning Hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and member PR Sreejesh in the second last row.

His seat allocation has drawn attention as the LoP is given a seat in the front row with Union Ministers as per protocols.

As per reports, Gandhi was not allocated a seat in the front because they were given to the Olympic medal winners.

The front row was occupied by top Union Ministers Amit Shah, S Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

During the previous BJP regime under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then LoP Sonia Gandhi was allocated a seat in the front row.

The Congress has gained the LoP post after it improved its tally of seats to 99 while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP nosedived from 303 to 240 requiring mandatory support of its allies to form the government.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.