Giriraj Singh slams Kharge, Rahul Gandhi for skipping 80th Independence Day
Synopsis
For the second year in a row, Congress President Kharge and LoP Rahul Gandhi were absent from Independence Day at the Red Fort — and Union Minister Giriraj Singh did not hold back, invoking Vajpayee's bipartisan example to call the no-show a 'childish act' unbecoming of their offices. The seating row from 2024 that sparked the boycott remains unresolved.
Key Takeaways
Union Minister Giriraj Singh called the absence of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi from the 80th Independence Day celebrations a ‘childish act’.
The two Congress leaders skipped the Red Fort ceremony for the second consecutive year .
The boycott stems from a 2024 seating controversy in which Gandhi was reportedly placed in the second-last row despite his Leader of Opposition status.
The Defence Ministry had attributed the seating change to accommodating Olympians at the 2024 ceremony.
Singh cited former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee as an example of an opposition leader who attended Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday, 15 August sharply criticised Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for staying away from the 80th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort, calling their absence a “childish act” unworthy of the offices they hold. The two senior Congress leaders skipped the ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the second consecutive year, citing an unresolved seating arrangement controversy.
What Giriraj Singh Said
Singh was unsparing in his assessment, arguing that attending the national celebration was a civic and constitutional responsibility, not a political choice. “I think this is a childish act. It does not befit the position they hold, especially when the country is celebrating Independence Day. If you do not attend such an important occasion, people will not view you favourably,” he said.
The minister also drew on historical precedent to reinforce his point, invoking the late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “Today, Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister, but when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in the Opposition, he too used to attend the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort,” Singh noted, suggesting that cross-party participation in national ceremonies has long been the norm.
The Seating Row That Sparked the Boycott
The origins of the dispute trace back to the 2024 Independence Day ceremony, when Gandhi — despite holding the rank of Leader of Opposition, a post that carries Cabinet ministerial status — was reportedly seated in the second-last row. Established protocol places the Leader of Opposition in the front row at major state functions.
The Opposition had lodged strong objections at the time, describing the arrangement as both disrespectful and a breach of protocol. The Defence Ministry, which oversees the event's organisation, countered that the seating plan had been restructured to accommodate Olympians attending the ceremony — a clarification the Congress did not accept.
Second Consecutive Absence
The decision by Kharge and Gandhi to stay away marks the second straight year the two most prominent Congress leaders have been absent from the Red Fort celebrations. Critics argue the repeated absence risks reducing a national occasion to a political flashpoint, while Congress supporters maintain the party's stand is a principled objection to protocol violations.
What This Signals
The episode reflects a broader pattern of strained ceremonial relations between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the principal opposition, where procedural disputes have increasingly spilled into the public domain. With the 80th Independence Day carrying symbolic weight, the optics of the main opposition's absence are unlikely to fade quickly. How both sides navigate protocol disputes ahead of future state functions will be closely watched.
Point of View
Not a protest — and that distinction matters. A one-time absence registers as a grievance; a second consecutive no-show risks looking like institutional disengagement at a ceremony that belongs to the nation, not any party. Singh's invocation of Vajpayee is pointed: it reminds voters that opposition statesmanship once meant showing up even when aggrieved. The unresolved seating dispute, meanwhile, exposes a genuine procedural failure by the event organisers — the Leader of Opposition's protocol rank is not ambiguous. Both sides own a share of this impasse, but only one side is being seen at the Red Fort.
NationPress
15 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge skip the 80th Independence Day celebrations?
Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge skipped the 80th Independence Day event at the Red Fort over an unresolved seating arrangement controversy. In 2024, Gandhi was reportedly placed in the second-last row despite his Leader of Opposition status, which carries Cabinet ministerial rank — a breach of established protocol that the Congress has refused to overlook.
What did Giriraj Singh say about the Congress leaders' absence?
Union Minister Giriraj Singh called the decision a 'childish act' that did not befit the positions Kharge and Gandhi hold. He argued that attending Independence Day was a national responsibility and warned that the public would not view the leaders favourably for staying away.
Is this the first time Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have skipped Independence Day at the Red Fort?
No. The 2025 absence marks the second consecutive year that both Congress leaders have stayed away from the Red Fort celebrations, having also skipped the event in 2024 when the seating controversy first emerged.
What was the Defence Ministry's explanation for the 2024 seating arrangement?
The Defence Ministry, which organises the Independence Day event, said the seating plan was modified to accommodate Olympians attending the ceremony. The Congress rejected this explanation, maintaining that the change violated established protocol for the Leader of Opposition.
Who did Giriraj Singh cite as a historical example of bipartisan participation?
Singh cited former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, noting that Vajpayee attended Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort even during his years in the Opposition — a precedent Singh used to argue that cross-party participation in national ceremonies has historically been the norm.
