Nationalist Congress Get together (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Friday (August 16, 2024) hit out on the Centre over Chief of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi not being allotted a front-row seat on the Independence Day occasion, accusing it of not honouring the publish of Chief of Opposition.
Addressing celebration staff of the Opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi, Mr. Pawar stated the menace to the Structure continues to be not over even when the BJP didn’t get majority within the Lok Sabha polls.
“The Centre did not honour the post of Leader of Opposition,” Mr. Pawar stated. “The Leader of Opposition was made to sit in the back row,” stated the NCP (SP) chief.
The Congress on Thursday (August 15, 2024) stated making Mr. Gandhi “sit in the fifth row” on the Independence Day celebrations on the Purple Fort confirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “pettiness” and lack of respect for democratic traditions.
Mr. Pawar stated that when he was the Chief of the Opposition throughout Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, his seating association on the I-Day occasion was alongside the Cupboard Ministers. He recalled that when Manmohan Singh was the PM, the then LoP Sushma Swaraj was given a seat allotted to Cupboard ranks.
“The Prime Minister is an institution, and so is the Leader of the Opposition. The prestige of the PM’s post has to be maintained. Similarly, LoP’s prestige is also equally important,” Mr. Pawar careworn.
