The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday accused the NDA government of violating protocol, which compelled its chief Sharad Pawar to skip the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that there was a specified protocol for seating VIPs and the government allocated a seat in the fifth row to Pawar, instead of the front row.
“It was the responsibility of the government to ensure that proper protocol was observed when inviting a person of the stature of Pawar, who heads a national political party, and has served as a senior cabinet minister in the Centre for years,” Malik told mediapersons.