File photo: Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Parliament
The Congress will have only two front row seats and will have to share benches with the Left and smaller parties like the Aam Aadmi Party in the new Lok Sabha.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has reportedly completed the task of allotting seats to the MPs of the 16th Lok Sabha after many consultations.
The Congress' depleted numbers mean that only two leaders, party president Sonia Gandhi and its Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge, will have front seats. (
Also Read: Rahul Gandhi Takes Front Row Seat for Budget Presentation)
The Congress had reportedly asked for four seats in the front row, which is seen as a status symbol, but numerically, it only qualified for two.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has been allotted front seat even though he has just four members in the house, as an exception because of his seniority and years in Parliament.
Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal (Secular) also has a place in the front row.
The BJP-led coalition, which has 330-plus seats in the Lok Sabha, has been allotted 12 seats in the front row. These will be occupied, among others, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his top ministers, and BJP veteran LK Advani.
The Speaker faced a problem while trying to allot seats, with at least five parties reportedly refusing to sit next to the Congress, which was reduced to just 44 members, its lowest tally ever, in the national election.
The AIADMK, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the YSR Congress allegedly said that their political positioning is equidistant from the BJP and the Congress and that must be reflected in the way they are seated.
J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK with 37 MPs, the Trinamool Congress with 34 and the BJD are the largest teams in the house after the Congress.