Republic Day 2022 tableau row: Modi government does not decide on tableau, expert panel does, say sources
The proposals of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were rejected by the Subject Expert Committee after due process and due deliberations, sources said.
FollowAmidst the controversies stirred around the rejection of tableaus from West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Union government has hit back saying that the state governments were unnecessarily linked it to regional pride and projecting this as an insult to their people.
Stating that this narrative played out almost every year, sources in the government said it is a wrong precedent adopted by several chief ministers to portray an outcome of an objective process as a flashpoint between the Centre and the states. Such needless controversies go a long way in harming the country's federal structure, sources said, adding that perhaps the chief ministers had no positive agenda of their own that they turn to the same old misinformation campaign every year.
Giving out details about the selection process, the sources said that it is not the Narendra Modi government that decides on the tableaux. The tableaux proposals received from various states and central ministries are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee that comprises eminent people in the field of art, culture, music, architecture, sculpture, choreography, etc.
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The committee examines the proposals on the grounds of concept, theme, design and visual impact before making recommendations. Due to time constraints, only a few of the proposals have been accepted. For this year's Republic Day Parade, a total of 56 proposals were received from states and central ministries. Only 21 proposals were shortlisted. Sources said that given the paucity of time it is obvious that more proposals would be rejected than accepted.
The proposals of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were rejected by the Subject Expert Committee after due process and due deliberations, sources said, adding that Kerala’s tableau was accepted in 2018 and 2021 through the same process. Similarly, the tableaux proposals of Tamil Nadu were accepted in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021. West Bengal’s proposal was accorded in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021 for the Republic Day Parade.
The chief ministers of these states and several opposition leaders have written letters to the prime minister, seeking his intervention in accepting the tableau proposals. Senior BJP leader Tathagata Roy has urged PM Narendra Modi to allow West Bengal's tableau on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
In a series of posts on Twitter, Tathagatha appealed to Prime Minister Modi to allow the West Bengal tableau featuring Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the Republic Day festivities. He further said that Netaji, whose organisation of the INA, shook the faith of the British in their army and hastened their exit.
The former Tripura Governor recalled how the Centre had started, for the first time, the celebration of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary as Parakram Diwas. Acknowledging the fact Republic Day celebrations will now begin every year from January 23 instead of January 24, he urged Prime Minister not to allow any state government to claim credit for remembering Netaji.
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