April 17, 2026 01:00 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Bengal SIR: Supreme Court allows voters restored by tribunal till April 21 and 27 to vote | 'Women won't spare you': PM Modi warns Opposition over resistance to quota bill | Vijay booked in 3 cases over poll code violation ahead of Tamil Nadu polls | 'Black law': Stalin burns copy of 'delimitation' bill, slams Modi govt | TCS halts Nashik BPO operations amid sexual abuse, conversion allegations | ‘We are surprised’: SC stays Pawan Khera’s bail over remarks on Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife | Historic shift: Bihar gets first BJP CM as Samrat Choudhary takes oath | 'ECI deviated from Bihar procedure': Supreme Court raises concerns over voter deletion in Bengal SIR | Noida workers’ protest turns violent: Stones pelted, vehicles damaged over wage hike demand | Oil prices jump above $103 a barrel as US moves to block Iran-linked shipping
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.