On a four-seat bench, the seats on either side of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi are usually unoccupied while NCP leader Tariq Anwar takes up the one abutting the aisle.
Sonia's lonely vigil tells a tale of Congress's isolation, a stunning change from when parties lined up seeking an alliance - and a slice of the power pie - when UPA was in office.
The Lok Sabha secretariat's peculiar conundrum of not being able to allot division numbers in the 16th House stems from a steadfast refusal of three major non-NDA parties to share space with Congress.
Driven by a strong desire to maintain their regional identities, Trinamool, BJD and AIADMK are passing the buck among each another in a bid to avoid sharing the bench with Congress.
Not only do they see Congress as a rival, the former ruling party's reduced fortunes have seen the regional parties vie for the main opposition space.
All permutations have failed so far. A plan to seat SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and former PM Deve Gowda on the same bench as Sonia failed to take off.
Yadav continues to occupy a separate two-seat bench that he shares with Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartruhari Mahtab.
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The government hoped to seat Gowda and Yadav next to Sonia on grounds of "seniority" as neither have the party strength to justify a front row perch.
BJD has refused to accept a seat on the Sonia bench, insisting that the secretariat allocate seats by numerical strength.
"Congress has 44 seats and AIADMK and Trinamool are next in strength. They should be given seats adjacent to Congress," says Mahtab.
Congress, meanwhile, has sought three seats on the front row, one more than what Sonia and party leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge have been allotted.
After initially occupying the seats contiguous to Congress MPs, the Trinamool leadership changed its mind, seeking to differentiate itself from the UPA block.
Trinamool and AIADMK leaders argue that given that their numbers are next to Congress, they are within their rights to seek a separate seating of their choice.
Secretariat officials tend to pin the blame for the logjam on BJD, which they say should accept the corner seat on the bench that seats Sonia. BJD will have none of it.
Since the problem is showing no signs of being resolved, it is likely that seats will be allotted at the end of the current session of Parliament even if there is no consensus.
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