'Politically motivated': Kerala govt cries foul after WB, Maha over tableau rejection

As the Union Governmnet on Friday released the final list of selected tableau for the Republic Day parade 2020, Kerala governmnet has joined the ranks of Shiv Sena and Trinamool Congress alleging that the decision is politically motivated. As Kerala was rejected from the parade, state's law minister AK Balan cried foul. This comes a day after Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool alleged that the ruling BJP at the Centre is conspiring against them. However, the Centre on Thursday had clarified on the process of selection and said that only 16 states and union territories has been selected, and six ministries. 

In the full list, NDA-ruled Bihar also did not find a mention, while Congress-ruled Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh has been selected. The list of 22 selected participants include six ministries - Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Department of Drinking water and sanitation, NDRF under the Ministry of Home Affairs, CPWD under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and Ministry of Shipping.

Here is the full list. 

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West Bengal and Maharashtra tableau axed

Earlier on Thursday, as Maharashtra and West Bengal governmnet was informed about the rejection of tableau, Sena and Trinamool slammed the Centre. Sena MP Sanjay 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. West Bengal Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Tapas Roy accused the BJP-led central government of having a "vindictive" attitude towards the state. He also alleged that the Centre insulted the people of the state for protesting against the amended Citizenship Act.

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Tableau short-listing process

As the controversy broke out, the Ministry of Defence had clarified the process, stating 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 after a series of five meetings

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.

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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