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The seating arrangement for the 18th Lok Sabha was updated before the commencement of the Winter Session of the Parliament.
Lok Sabha (File photo/ANI)
Another political tussle got triggered between the Centre and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) led by opposition parties over the rearrangement and allocation of front-row seats in the Lok Sabha, with the Congress accusing the BJP-led government of deviating from the agreed formula on the seat allocation.
As per the norm, a party at every 28 members will get one front-row seat. According to the sources, seven seats were offered to the INDIA bloc parties, excluding the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress (TMC). The opposition bloc devised a formula on this seating arrangement, and decided that these seats would be distributed as follows: one seat for the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), three for Congress, two for the Samajwadi Party (SP), and one for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
However, the opposition claimed the government later reduced the SP’s allocation by one seat, shifting Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad, who was highlighted by Akhilesh Yadav for his win in the Lok Sabha Elections, to the second row at seat number 357.
The Congress and SP later protested over the decision regarding the seat allocation and raised the matter with the concerned minister.
Similarly, several senior leaders from DMK and NCP (Sharad Pawar Faction) have complained of being relegated to the seventh row, saying that they do not reflect their seniority or political stature.
Not only the opposition bench, some allies of the ruling NDA also expressed dissatisfaction over their seating position. On Tuesday, senior TDP MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy expressed disappointment over the eighth-row seat he has been allotted in the House. In the last Lok Sabha tenure, he was seated in the second row.
However, Speaker Om Birla quickly stepped in. “No member shall raise questions over the work arrangements of Parliament on the floor of the House. If you have any issue or concerns, please come to the chamber or the (Ministry of) Parliamentary Affairs. Let this convention be followed like a rule,” Birla had said.
Congress To Be Blamed?
According to the sources, Samajwadi Party was reportedly unhappy with Congress for not pushing the government harder on the seat allocation. However, Akhilesh Yadav dismissed the rumours and said that he was not upset with the Congress and accused the BJP of creating a divide with the INDIA bloc.
18th Lok Sabha Seating Arrangement
The seating arrangement for the 18th Lok Sabha was updated before the commencement of the Winter Session of the Parliament.
As per the allotment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi continued to occupy their seats in the front row, seat number 1 and seat number 498, respectively. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has been assigned seat number 2, next to the Prime Minister. Home Minister Amit Shah was assigned seat number 3, while Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who was initially assigned seat number 58 in back row, has been moved to seat number 4, next to Amit Shah.
On the opposition side, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal has been allotted seat number 497, next to Rahul Gandhi. Meanwhile, newly elected MP and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been assigned a seat in the fourth row, seat number 517.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has been allotted a front-row seat, seat number 355. Senior Congress leaders like Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor have been assigned seats in the fourth and third rows, respectively
Trinamool Congress’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Sudeep Bandopadhyay, has been allotted seat number 354.
