With 236 MPs at its side, the Opposition's INDIA bloc is set to get at least eight prized front-row seats in the 18th Lok Sabha. With the largest share, Congress will have four front seats in its kitty, after its settler performance in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party will get two seats. The other allies including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) will reportedly get one seat each.
The front row of Congress will be led by the leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi, along with his deputy Gaurav Gogoi, senior-most House member Kodikunnil Suresh, and AICC general secretary and Rahul's confidant KC Venugopal, according to a report by Times of India.
Quoting sources, the report said that the seating arrangement is still being discussed, as the Speaker's office has sought names of MPs for individual seats allocated to the opposition.
But, it would be the Samajwadi party's bench that is likely to elicit interest as Chief Akhilesh Yadav will be able to accommodate another member beside him in the prime space. During the last two short sessions after the Lok Sabha election, permanent seat allocation of members was not completed. During those sessions, the SP chief seated Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad next to him.
The choice was seen as a political statement as Faizabad Lok Sabha comprises the temple town of Ayodhya, where in a psychological blow, the Samajwadi party defeated the BJP. The victory was sweeter considering the fact that Prasad, a veteran Dalit face, defeated BJP's known local face identified with Hindutva, from a general seat.
With the Samajwadi Party looking to increase its reach among the Dalit voters ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Prasad could emerge as the magnet to woo the vast populace. During the last two Lok Sabha sessions, both Congress and Samajwadi party MPs repeatedly held up Prasad to rile the BJP, even as the veteran himself spared no opportunity to target the ruling benches.