"7 Crore Kannadigas Insulted": CM Siddaramaih On Karnataka's Republic Day Tableau Rejection, BJP Says Opportunity For Every State

After Punjab, now the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government has accused the BJP-led Union government of "insulting Kannadigas" by not accepting Karnataka's Republic Day tableau.

The Karnataka Chief Minister said on Tuesday (9 January), “The central government has insulted 7 crore Kannadigas by denying the opportunity for the state’s tableau at the Republic Day parade."

However, the BJP refuted these allegations by saying that Karnataka got an opportunity for the last 14 years and since every state deserves the opportunity, the centre had to skip Karnataka this time. These comments came from BJP state president B Y Vijayendra as per Indian Express.

CM Siddaramaiah further said, "Karnataka faced similar situation even last year as our state’s tableau was initially rejected. They later permitted keeping Karnataka elections in mind. This time, the central government has again continued its trend of insulting Kannadigas."

He pointed out that despite sending several tableau proposals, all faced rejection from the centre. Karnataka's tableaus included Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar's contributions to democracy and the development of the state, Kittur Rani Chennamma and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda among others.

He alleged that the existence of the Congress government in power is concerning BJP and highlighted how "the Central Government is constantly attacking Kannadigas with political malice" through "devolution of tax, injustice in drought relief, the sale of banks, ports, and airports."

Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government had made similar allegations of "discrimination" over the rejection of the state's tableau. The Centre dismissed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's criticism as "baseless".