Republic Day Tableau Row: Centre Dismisses Mann's Discrimination Accusation, Says Punjab Selected Six Times In Eight Years

On Sunday (31 December), the Centre dismissed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's critique of the BJP-led government as "unfounded". Mann had criticised the government for not featuring the state's tableau in the Republic Day parade of 2024, alleging discrimination.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader accuse the central government of bias against Punjab. He pointed out that both Punjab and Delhi were omitted from the list of states chosen for the tableaux in the 26 January parade.

The Ministry of Defence responded with a statement that explained how tableaux suggestions from states, Union territories, and central ministries or departments are assessed. This evaluation process is carried out by an 'expert committee' made up of distinguished individuals from various fields such as art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, and choreography, among others.

"The tableau proposal of Punjab was considered in first three rounds of meeting of the Expert Committee. After the third round of meeting, the tableau of Punjab could not be taken forward by the Expert Committee for further consideration for not aligning to the broader themes of this year's tableau," it said.

The Ministry of Defence also mentioned that the states and Union Territories that were not chosen for the Republic Day parade of 2024 are invited to display their tableaux at Bharat Parv, held at the Red Fort from January 23rd to 31st. This is in line with a Memorandum of Understanding signed with these states and Union Territories.

Mann firmly declared that Punjab's tableaux would not be featured in Bharat Parv. He relayed this message through a Punjabi post on 'X', clarifying that the state's tableau, intended to highlight the sacrifices of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, and Lala Lajpat Rai, would not be submitted to the 'rejected categories'.

The Ministry of Defence added that an expert committee conducts a shortlisting process for the tableaux due to the time constraints within the parade's total duration, ensuring only the finest ones participate.

The 2024 Republic Day parade saw a willingness to participate from 30 states and Union Territories, including Punjab and West Bengal, according to reports.

"Out of these 30 States/UTs, like every year, only 15-16 States/UTs will be finally selected to present their tableaux in the Republic Day Parade 2024," the statement added.

The announcement clarified that according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that Punjab and Delhi have inked with the Indian government, both states have consented to showcase their tableau in the Republic Day parade during one of the three years commencing from 26 January 2024.

"Therefore, their critique regarding their non-selection this year (2024) is subjective and without basis," it stated.

The ministry noted that the Punjab tableau has been selected for the Republic Day Parade six times in the past eight years, specifically from 2017 to 2022.

"As states have to be treated equally, it is essential that states should be given the opportunity to display their tableaus as per a formula. Government of India is preparing a three-year programme covering all states/UTs which will be shared with all the States/UTs. Hence, the criticism by these states is baseless," it asserted.

The statement also made mention of West Bengal, according to the defence ministry.

"The tableau proposal of West Bengal was considered in first two rounds of meeting of the Expert Committee. After the second round of meeting, the tableau of West Bengal could not be taken forward by the Expert Committee for further consideration for not aligning to the broader themes of this year's tableau," it said.

The announcement clarified that the tableau from West Bengal was selected five times in the past eight years, specifically in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023.