Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to PM Modi over Centre's rejecting the state's tableau.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said that the State Government has decided to showcase the tableaux rejected by the Centre for the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi, at a parade on the Marina beachfront in Chennai on January 26.
Besides, said the chief minister the tableaux would travel to key towns in Tamil Nadu for the people to see, according to a statement by the chief minister's office.
"Shocked and sad over rejection of tableaux from Tamil Nadu for Republic Day parade without any reason. State tableaux rejected for Republic day parade in Delhi by Central committee will be part of Republic Day parade in Chennai; will be taken across Tamil Nadu," said the Chief Minister in a statement.
Earlier today, a day after, Mr Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Centre rejecting the state's tableau for the Republic Day Parade 2022, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the tableau was considered in the first three rounds of the meetings of the expert committee, however, could not make it to the final list of the 12 tableaux selected for this year.
Mr Stalin on Monday had written to the Prime Minister seeking his immediate intervention into the matter. "Excluding the tableau will deeply hurt the sentiments and patriotic feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu," the Tamil Nadu chief minister had written.
Responding to his letter, Rajanth Singh wrote in his letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, "Ministry of Defence invites proposals for tableaux from all States/UTs and Central Ministries/Departments. The tableaux proposals received from various States/UTs and Central Ministries/Departments 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. The Expert Committee examines the proposals on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations."
"As per the time slot allotted for tableaux in the overall duration of the parade, shortlisting of tableaux is done by the Expert Committee. For RDP-2022, a total of 29 proposals were received from States/ UTs including the proposal from State of Tamil Nadu. The Tableaux from the State Government of Tamil Nadu was considered in the first three rounds of meetings. After the third round of meeting, the tableaux could not make it into the final list of 12 Tableaux selected for participation in the RDP-2022," he added.
Mr Singh said that the selection of tableau is as per the prescribed guidelines on the matter.
Notably, the Centre also rejected the West Bengal tableau for the Republic Day Parade as well after which state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to reconsider his decision.