Maha & WB Republic Day tableaux turned down, Centre clarifies: BJP states rejected too

While the Shiv Sena and the Trinamool Congress are alleging that the BJP-led Union government is conspiring against the Maharashtra and West Bengal government for the Republic Day tableau parade, the Ministry of Defence had clarified the process on Wednesday. It stated that the, a total of 56 tableaux proposals (32 from States/UTs and 24 from Ministries/Departments) were received. Out of these, 22 proposals, comprising of 16 States/UTs and 6 Ministries/Departments, have finally been shortlisted for participation in the Republic Day Parade 2020 after a series of five meetings.

Shiv Sena fumes as Maharashtra tableau gets axed from Republic Day parade after Bengal

Tableau short-listing process

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 field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography etc. Many tableaux of BJP ruled states have also been rejected this year. States like Haryana, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh's proposals too were rejected while West Bengal's proposal was shortlisted and then rejected.

The Ministry had clarified that the Committee examines the proposals on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations.  Due to time constraints, only a limited number of tableau can be short-listed for participation in the parade."The selection process in vogue leads to the participation of the best tableau in the parade," the department said in a statement.

Republic Day 2020: Centre rejects Mamata-led West Bengal government's tableau proposal

Sena fumes on Maharashtra tableau rejection

On Thursday, Shiv Sena has hit out at Maharashtra BJP for not opposing the exclusion of Maharashtra from the tableau, stating its ally-turned-foe would have hit out had it been Congress government at the Centre. Raut stated that the was it the Maha Vikas Aghadi's fault that they were patriotic, pointing out that Maharashtra had won first place several times in the Republic Day parade tableau. He alleged a conspiracy was afoot to exclude both West Bengal and Maharashtra from showcasing in the parade.

He tweeted, " Is there a political conspiracy behind the tableau of Maharashtra and West Bengal that should not be seen on Republic Day at this time? Is it our crime that we are intensely patriotic? Maharashtra's tableau on Rajpath has always been the attraction of the country often winning first place. Which prize horse will the Government of India showcase, excluding Maharashtra? Had this happened in the Congress regime, the Maharashtra BJP would have slammed. Why silent today?"

22 tableau proposals out of 56 short-listed for Republic Day parade

Earlier on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence rejected the West Bengal government's tableau proposal for the Republic Day parade on January 26. It said that the proposal was rejected by the expert committee in two rounds of meetings.  The tableau proposal of West Bengal government was not taken forward for further consideration by the committee after deliberations in the second meeting, an official statement said.

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(With PTI Inputs)