New Delhi, Aug 15 (Reporter) The Congress on Thursday expressed outrage over Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's seating arrangement during the Independence Day celebration at the Red Fort here. The Congress party said that this was not only an insult to the post of LoP but also to the people of the country whose voice Gandhi represents in the Parliament. On social media handle X, party general secretary K C Venugopal said, "Modi ji, it’s about time you wake up to the new reality post-June 4th. The arrogance with which you relegated Lok Sabha LoP Shri @RahulGandhi ji to the last rows during the Independence Day ceremony shows that you have not learned your lesson". It may be mentioned that, Rahul Gandhi was given a seat in the fifth row at the Independence Day celebration at the Red Fort that was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meanwhile, sources in the Ministry of Defence said that the Ministry had been following the table of precedence in the seating of guests at ceremonial events. This year it was decided to honour the Olympic game medal winners for which even some Union Ministers were also seated behind the Olympic medal winners, sources added. Dismissing the Defence Ministry's explanation, Venugopal said, "The Defence Ministry‘s feeble explanation that it was out of “respect for Olympians” doesn’t cut much ice. While Olympians deserve every bit of respect, I wonder how Cabinet Ministers like Amit Shah or Nirmala Sitharaman ji get front row seats ahead of them," the Congress leader said. He said, "As per protocol, the LoPs of both Houses must also be seated in the front row, but the seats for Rahul ji and INC President Shri Mallikarjun @kharge ji were in the 5th row. This was not only an insult to the post of LoP or Rahul ji; it was an insult to the people of India, whose voice Rahul ji represents in Parliament". "It’s amazing how uncomfortable the truth can make some people—so much so that they’d rather rearrange the seating than face it," the Congress leader said...////...