New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday wrote to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh requesting him to allow Karnataka to showcase its tableau in this year’s Republic Day parade to be held in New Delhi on January 26th.
He said that the decision to not allow the state's tableau at this year's parade has hurt the sentiments of the Kannadigas.
"The decision to not allow Karnataka tableau at this year's Republic Day parade has hurt the sentiments of Kannadigas...it is requested to allow Karnataka to showcase its tableau in the Republic Day Parade 2024 instead of limiting it to 'Bharat Parv' exhibition at the Red Fort," the letter stated.
In his letter, Karnataka CM stated, "The theme "BRAND BENGALURU" was selected from among the 5 themes proposed by Karnataka for the 2024 Republic Day Parade. Karnataka has attended all the meetings called by Ministry of Defence. The State had presented the key-model and the music before the selection committee and the committee had asked us to attend the next meeting with certain modifications. However, after the last round of meeting, Karnataka has not been included in the 2024 Republic Day Parade to be conducted at Kartavya Path. Instead, the tableau has been accommodated in the 'Bharat Parv' section at the Red Fort."
He said that Karnataka has been taking part in the Republic Day Parade with its tableau for the last 14 years consecutively. "Karnataka has won numerous prizes for its tableau in the Republic Day. Parades with various themes such as Maha Mastakabhishek of Bhagwan Baahubali (2005), Architecture of Hoysala (2008), Bidari Art of Bidar (2011), Bhootaradhane (2012), Channapattana Toys (2015) and Traditional Art Forms of Karnataka (2022). Each tableau of Karnataka has been showcasing rich culture, folklore and traditions of the State," he added.
On Tuesday, Siddaramaiah in a post on X, formerly Twitter, said, “The Central Government has insulted the seven crore [70 million] Kannadigas by denying the opportunity for the state’s tableau at the Republic Day parade to be held in New Delhi on January 26th. Karnataka faced a similar situation even last year as our state’s tableau was initially rejected. They [BJP-led Centre] later permitted keeping Karnataka elections in mind. This time, the central government has again continued its trend of insulting Kannadigas."
He further stated that the southern state had sent several tableau proposals, but the Centre rejected all of them.
“Several tableau proposals were sent from Karnataka, but unfortunately the Central Government has rejected all these proposals. We had conceptualised the tableau of Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar to depict his immense contributions to democracy and the development of our state. We also sent proposals to depict the contributions of Kittur Rani Chennamma and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda too along with the proposals to showcase Karnataka’s rich nature and Brand Bengaluru. However, the Central Committee rejected our request, depriving us of the opportunity to introduce the nation to our state’s immense achievements and exemplary figures,” he added.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the fact that the Congress government is in power in the state seems to be a concerning factor to the BJP-led Central Government. "It is unfortunate that the MPs of @BJP4Karnataka are not questioning this injustice. They have become puppets of Narendra Modi. To whom are they loyal? Kannadigas or Narendra Modi?" he added.