Boost for Akhilesh as SP to get 2 front row seats in Lok Sabha, Congress 4

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party is set to have two front seats in Lok Sabha, in what will give it the chance to accommodate another member besides party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Congress, meanwhile, will have four front seats and DMK one in the 18th Lok Sabha.

Congress front row will be led by leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, and comprise deputy Gaurav Gogoi, senior-most House member Kodikunnil Suresh, and AICC general secretary and Rahul's confidant KC Venugopal.

But it is SP bench that is bound to elicit interest by way of its second MP to share the prime space with Akhilesh. During two short sessions held after the election, with permanent places still to be allocated to the members, the SP chief has seated Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad next to him.

The choice has been politically significant as Faizabad comprises temple town Ayodhya, where SP vanquished BJP and delivered it a psychological blow. Its implication is amplified by the fact that Prasad is a veteran Dalit face who was fielded from a general seat, where he overcame BJP's known local face identified with Hindutva.

With SP looking to increase its reach among the Dalit voters of UP, rendered uncommitted by the collapse of BSP, Prasad is viewed as the magnet to woo the vast populace.

During the LS sessions, the large and vocal Samajwadi contingent and Congress mascot Rahul repeatedly held up Prasad to rile BJP, even as the veteran himself spared no opportunity to get under the skin of the ruling benches. A section of opposition is also pushing him for deputy speakership, with demand that Modi govt hold election to the prestigious, if ceremonial, post.

INDIA bloc cobbled during 2024 parliamentary polls returned with a strength of 240 MPs, including TMC which too is expected to get front row seats besides the seven allocated to Congress, SP and DMK.

Sources said that the seating arrangement is still being discussed, as the Speaker's office has sought names of MPs for individual seats across rows allocated to the opposition.


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