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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.

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