The tableau for the Republic Day parade is in the news ahead of the R-Day celebration. Unfortunately, it made headlines for the wrong reason. Delhi's ruling party attacked the Central government over reports about the national capital being dropped from the list. Reports claiming that Delhi's tableau missed the cut for next year's Republic Day parade emerged, following which AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the Centre of playing politics over the issue.
Kejriwal also slammed the BJP, saying Delhi being the national capital, its tableau should be included in the Republic Day parade every year.
"I want to ask them -- why is Delhi's tableau being excluded once again this year? Why are the people of Delhi being prevented from participating in the Republic Day celebrations," he asked at a press conference.
BJP hits back at Kejriwal
Hitting back at the AAP chief, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva claimed Kejriwal shows his "true colour" whenever a national festival approaches.
"Delhiites have not forgotten the incident from 2014 when the entire city was gearing up to celebrate Republic Day, but Kejriwal tarnished its dignity by staging a protest," Sachdeva said.
He also said the decision to select tableaux for the Republic Day parade is made by a designated committee, and their numbers are also limited, which Kejriwal is well aware of.
Why R-Day tableau often lands in controversy?
In view of the time-constraints, the Ministry Defence is able to include only a limited number of proposals and this is the core issue. After being dropped from the list, the state or UT government often links it with politics. A political controversy crops up if a state ruled by the Opposition party at the Centre is excluded from the final list of the R-Day tableau.
What is tableau selection process?
There exists a well-established system for selection of tableaux for participation in the Republic Day Parade. The Defence Ministry invites tableaux proposals from various states/UTs and they are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography etc.
What are the criterias for the selection?
The tableaux proposals are examined on the basis of theme, concept, design and their visual impact. Due to time allotted for tableaux in the overall duration of the parade, shortlisting of tableaux is always done by the expert committee.
"In the first phase of selection, the sketch/design of the proposals is scrutinized and suggestions, if any, are given to carry out improvement in the sketch/design. Once the sketches/designs are approved by the Committee, the participants are asked to come up with three-dimensional models of their proposals. The models are thereafter examined by the Committee for final selection depending upon other aspects of the tableaux. Non-attendance in any meeting means withdrawal and such participant will not be invited in subsequent meetings. All cost for attending the meetings is to be borne by the participants. All interaction/presentation with the committee members will be made by the official representative of the participating state/UT/Ministry/Deptt./Organisation," a statement released by the Defence Ministry read.
The artists and designers, etc. may accompany the official representative to take note of the suggestions given by the Committee to carry out modifications in their respective sketch/design/model. They will, however, not directly interact with the members of the Expert Committee unless they are specifically authorized by the Committee to do so to explain any specific point.
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