Amid row over R-Day tableaux, Rajnath writes to Bengal and TN leaders

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday wrote to the chief ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu saying that decisions to select tableaux for the Republic Day parade are taken as per guidelines and seeking their participation in the event.

The letters came amid a political row over the rejection of tableau proposals from the two states. Bengal’s entry highlighted the contribution of Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army to the Independence movement, while Tamil Nadu proposed a float featuring freedom fighters such as V O Chidambaranar.

In his letter to Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, the minister underlined that the Narendra Modi government holds Bose in high regard and observes his birth anniversary, January 23, as ‘Parakram Diwas’. He also said that from now on, Republic Day celebrations will begin with his birth anniversary and conclude on January 30.

Singh said the process to select tableaux for the Republic Day parade is transparent and follows set guidelines. A committee comprising personalities from the spheres of art, culture, music and dance examines design proposals sent in by the states and decides which ones are selected, he said.

Singh added that this year 12 design proposals have been cleared out of entries sent in by 29 states and Union Territories.

In his missive to M K Stalin, Singh again stressed that selection of tableaux is done as per the laid-out guidelines and added that while the state’s design cleared the first three rounds of meetings, it could not make it to the final list of 12 selected tableaux.