Congress on Rahul, Kharge skipping Red Fort event

On the 79th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the tricolor for the 12th time in a row at the Red Fort. With this, he has become the second Prime Minister to hoist the tricolor the most number of times in a row. He left Indira Gandhi behind. While PM Modi made this special record in the ceremony held at the Red Fort on Friday, politics also heated up over the absence of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. No big leader of the main opposition party Congress was present there. This is the first time after independence that the Leader of Opposition of both the Houses of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were absent from the main ceremony organized on Independence Day. BJP surrounded the Congress on this issue. Now the Congress has also clarified on the whole matter. Congress told why Rahul Gandhi and Kharge did not go to the Independence Day celebrations.

Congress spokesperson Dr Ajay Upadhyay said that the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha has been held in the front row after the Prime Minister with the status of a cabinet minister. He said that this has been the tradition from Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh, irrespective of whose government it has been.

The Congress spokesperson said that whichever party's leader has been the opposition, he has been made to sit in the front row. When Rahul Gandhi became the Leader of Opposition, he was made to sit in the last row on the occasion of Independence Day last year. He said that both Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge hold constitutional posts. Ajay Upadhyay said that this is a matter of dignity of constitutional post. It is not a matter of any individual.

He said that this is not a matter of Rahul Gandhi, nor is it a matter of Mallikarjun Kharge. Ajay Upadhyay said that if this is being done with a person holding a constitutional post, then it is a violation of the dignity of the Constitution. He said that to avoid violation of decorum, these two people celebrated the national festival, hoisted the national flag and the Prime Minister wants to politicise this issue. This should not be politicised.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson RP Singh countered the argument of being seated in the last row last year and said, "Did you see where the seats were placed today?" Earlier, BJP spokesperson Shahzad Poonawala, while reacting to the absence of the Leader of Opposition from the Independence Day celebrations held at the Red Fort, had said that the post of the Leader of Opposition is a constitutional post and it is his constitutional duty to attend this event.