The who’s who of Indian public life had assembled in the Central Hall of Parliament for the swearing in of the new President and, as in every such event, the seating and location was important to everyone.
The exception was West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who stuck to her no-fuss approach and occupied the last row with Trinamool Congress MPs.
Not only did she watch the entire ceremony with the backbenchers, she even offered a seat to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal beside her — a political and situational proximity that he accepted with alacrity. Sources in the Trinamool
New alignments
Congress told The Hindu that Mr. Kejriwal’s allotted seat was in the fourth row, next to other Chief Ministers like Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan and Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh.
But spotting him making his way there, Ms. Banerjee despatched party MP Derek O’Brien to offer him a place next to her.
Mr. Kejriwal then sat through the ceremony with the Trinamool contingent. His deputy, Manish Sisodia, however, sat with the three Service chiefs in the middle rows.
A Chief Minister who did find place in the first row was N. Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh.
He was seen exchanging greetings with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
Nitish’s place
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar found himself seated next to former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the Opposition’s presidential candidate he did not support in the elections.
The two sat peaceably together. Mr. Kumar chatted briefly with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, his relationship with whom goes back to the time the Bihar Chief Minister was part of the National Democratic Alliance.
Mr. Kumar’s Mahagathbandhan with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance in Bihar now in turmoil, the exchange was observed with interest.
Judges of the Supreme Court also made a rare appearance in the Central Hall of Parliament, and among them was Justice Dipak Mishra, tipped to be the next Chief Justice of India.
Lawyer-Ministers in the government — Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj — made it a point to greet the justices.
Much in demand
A Governor who was much in demand was Vidyasagar Rao, who holds dual charge of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. V. Maitreyan was among the first to spot him and have a pull-aside chat with him.
While Congress president Sonia Gandhi had a seat in the front row, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi sat towards the back of the hall with suspended MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Sushmita Dev.
Even in protocol-driven events such as these, the state of play of Indian politics is never away from the surface.
As the ceremony ended, BJP MPs at the back of the hall shouted Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Shri Ram . With no mention of the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in President Kovind’s speech, some Opposition members saw that as the firmest sign of change.
