New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday asserted that it has not demanded a front-row seat for Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and dismissed media reports stating the contrary as “propaganda”.
The clarification came after media reports claimed the government has ignored the Congress party’s demand for an additional front-row seat in the Lok Sabha. According to the report, the Congress was given only two seats in the first row for party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Neither Rahul Ji nor Congress Party have ever put forward any demand for "Front Row" seat at Parliament for @RahulGandhi ji
We have proposed seat no. 466 for Rahul Gandhi ji#Desist from false propaganda— Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) July 9, 2019
We have proposed seat no. 466 for Rahul Gandhi ji. Desist from false propaganda,” Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury clarified.
The number of front row seats a party gets in the Lok Sabha depends on its strength in the House.
Rahul Gandhi recently announced his resignation, assuming responsibility for the Congress’ defeat in the 2019 general election, wherein it only won 52 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. No announcement of the former party president’s successor has been made.
This comes after the Congress, in much turmoil in Karnataka, protested in the Parliament on Tuesday, in which Gandhi was also seen raising slogans. Several legislators of the Congress-JD(S) coalition have resigned, leading to a massive political crisis in the state.
The former Congress president is set to visit Amethi, the Congress bastion he lost to BJP’s Smriti Irani, for the first since the election on Wednesday.