Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad get front row seats in Lok Sabha

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari will be in the front row of the Lower House according to the seat allocation decided by the Lok Sabha secretariat on Wednesday.

Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, who became a Lok Sabha member after defeating Congress President Rahul Gandhi, will also be in the front row as will Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. 

Both were members of Rajya Sabha before being elected to the Lower House.

In the Opposition benches, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and DMK leader TR Baalu will be in the first row while Rahul Gandhi, who is MP from Wayanad, will continue to have his seat in the second row.

Seat number one in the Lower House is occupied by the Prime Minister.

Rajnath Singh, who is deputy leader of the BJP in Lok Sabha, will be seated next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Singh had the same seat in the 16th Lok Sabha. 

Other ministers in the front row include DV Sadananda Gowda and Narendra Singh Tomar.

While a seat in the first row of Opposition benches is vacant as Deputy Speaker has not been elected, the seat next to it is for Congress leader in the House, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. 

Sonia Gandhi will be seated next to Baalu who will be seated with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.

DMK and Congress were allies in the Lok Sabha elections. 

Apart from DMK, leaders of Trinamool Congress and YSR Congress Party have also got front row seats.