'Have not demanded front-row seat for Rahul Gandhi in Parliament': Congress reveals which seat they've proposed for former chief

The Congress on Tuesday asserted that it has not demanded a front-row seat for Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and dismissed media reports stating the contrary as "propaganda".

The Congress' clarification came after media reports claimed the government has ignored the Congress party's demand for an additional front-row seat in the Lok Sabha.

"Neither Rahul Ji nor Congress Party have ever put forward any demand for 'Front Row' seat at Parliament for Rahul Gandhi ji," Congress' leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury tweeted.

"We have proposed seat no. 466 for Rahul Gandhi ji. Desist from false propaganda," he said.

Rahul Gandhi's standing within the Congress party has been topic of considerable debate ever since the Lok Sabha election results when his efforts to revive Congress fortunes proved utterly futile. After a protracted saga, he finally resigned from the post of Congress president a week ago.

He has since made two court appearances over defamation cases, first in Mumbai and then in Patna, and he has also been summoned in Ahmedabad. On Wednesday, however, Rahul Gandhi is visiting Amethi, his old Lok Sabha constituency which didn't re-elect him in 2019 as Smriti Irani finished the job she began five years earlier and defeated the Nehru-Gandhi scion in his own bastion. While he is visiting the constituency in Uttar Pradesh to check on development projects, the Wayanad MP is also celebrating reaching 10 million followers on Twitter.

Rahul Gandhi has promised to fight '10 times harder' since his resignation as Congress president, despite the party still remaining leader-less. He has been seen in Parliament regularly through the last week, including during the Budget and the deliberation over the Karnataka crisis where he joined in the anti-BJP chanting.

(With PTI inputs)