All the states and union territories will get equal opportunity to display their tableaux in the next three Republic Day celebrations at Kartavya Path, under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Defence and governments concerned, said senior government officials on Wednesday.
This year’s Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path will see the participation of upto 75 per cent women in marching contingents of the three defence services and other uniformed forces, the officials told The Indian Express on Wednesday.
The clarification over the new selection process for the tableaux comes amid criticism from states with the opposition in power, including Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (Congress) and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann (Aam Aadmi Party), over the rejection of their tableaux.
According to the officials, the three-year rolling plan for the display of tableaux on Republic Day happened last year, following a consultative process for their selection between defence secretary Giridhar Aramane and senior officials of the states and union territories. They also said that after four meetings held by an expert committee, the tableaux of 16 states and union territories were selected for display during the Republic Day celebrations, on January 26, while emphasising that the selection was “transparent” and “consultative”, and provides everyone with an “equal opportunity”.
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Ladakh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, and Telangana will be displaying their tableaux this year. Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Goa, Assam, and Uttarakhand will participate in Bharat Parv at Red Fort from January 23 to 31.
According to the MoU provisions, the three-year plan was finalised so that every state and union territory gets a chance — on a rotational basis — to showcase its tableau during the Republic Day parade.An expert committee, comprising reputed artists recommended by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Indian Council for Cultural Relations was constituted for selecting the tableaux, the officials said.
