Republic Day parade: Only 22 of 56 tableau proposals accepted

New Delhi: Seven opposition-ruled states will have their tableaux on display in the Republic Day parade this year as the government has rubbished attempts to raise “fake issues”.

Government sources clarified Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, and Punjab are some opposition-ruled states whose tableaux will feature in this year’s Republic Day parade.

With the opposition alleging politics behind the rejection of Maharashtra and West Bengal tableaux in the Republic Day parade, government sources have clarified it is only an attempt to raise fake issues.

In the last few days, sources said, “We have seen bizarre allegations against the Centre from West Bengal and Maharashtra about rejection of their tableaux as they are opposition-ruled states,”

They pointed out that “While West Bengal is seeing a massive breakdown of law and order, the government in Maharashtra is busy fighting among itself, as a result portfolios have still not been allocated to the ministers,” sources said that “These states are facing misgovernance and are trying to divert attention from that.”

While these opposition parties want to undermine an important institution, government sources said the fact of the matter is that there is a well-established system for selection of tableaux for participation in the Republic Day parade as per which Ministry of Defence invites proposals for tableaux from all states/UTs and central ministries/departments.

Government sources pointed out that many tableaux of BJP-ruled states have also been rejected this year. These states are Haryana, Uttarakhand, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh.

“It is pertinent to mention here that the tableax of government of West Bengal was shortlisted for participation in Republic Day Parade 2019 as an outcome of the same process,” they pointed out.

The tableaux proposals received from various States/UTs and central ministries/departments are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising of eminent persons in the fields of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, and choreography.

For Republic Day Parade 2020, a total of 56 tableaux proposals (32 from States/UTs and 24 from central ministries/departments) were received. Out of these, 22 proposals, comprising of 16 States/UTs and six ministries/departments, have finally been shortlisted for participation in the parade after a series of five meetings.

(The headline of the story has been modified by EP Web Desk)

IANS