Govt says Rahul Gandhi to sit per the table of precedence during Independence Day

NEW DELHI: Defence secretary RK Singh on Monday said leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been invited to the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort on August 15 and will be seated immediately after the Union Cabinet ministers."Leader of opposition has been invited, and his seating would be as per the Table of Precedence, which is exactly after Cabinet ministers," Singh told news agency ANI.Last year, Congress criticised the government over Rahul Gandhi's seating arrangement during the Independence Day celebrations, alleging that he was seated in the "fifth row" and calling the move a display of "pettiness" and a disregard for democratic norms.Officials from the ministry of defence, which organises the event, had then said the seating was arranged "according to the Tab