Republic Day 2022: Know How Tableaux Are Selected As Rejections Trigger Row

The theme for the Republic Day parade of 2022 would be ‘India@75’ to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence.

Indian performers take part in a tableaux representing the Union Territory of Lakshadweep during the 68th Republic Day parade in New Delhi on January 26, 2017. | AFP

New Delhi: Three states have kicked up a political storm over rejection of tableaux ahead of the Republic Day celebrations as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin joined his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's immediate intervention.

The tableau suggestions of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal were rejected by the subject expert committee following appropriate procedure and deliberation, according to official sources of news agency PTI.

States and central ministries had submitted a total of 56 proposals. Out of these, 21 were shortlisted, according to the report.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to PM Modi over the exclusion of the state's tableaux that focused on Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary year.

Banerjee said such a move would cause "pain" to the people of her state. While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said excluding the state tableau would deeply hurt the sentiments and patriotic feelings of the people.

The Kerala government protested the omission of a tableau representing social reformer Sree Narayana Guru on Friday. The state education minister, V Sivankutty, had questioned the Kerala BJP whether they agreed with "this demeaning attitude toward Kerala's Guru."

Is this the first time that state tableaux was rejected?

No, last year also tableaux from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala and Bihar were rejected, leading to an uproar from the states.

At that time Bengal accused the Centre that the exclusion happened because the state opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The claim was dismissed by the Defence Ministry, which clarified that the proposal was turned down after an expert committee examined it in two meetings.

Every year, a selected number of tableaux from states and ministries of the central government make it to the Republic Day parade.

Going by the letter to the chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories in September, the Ministry of Defence had clearly mentioned that the selection process of tableaux is an elaborate and time-consuming exercise and that in view of time constraints, the ministry will be able to include only a limited number of proposals.

The theme for the Republic Day parade of 2022 would be ‘India@75’ to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence.

How Republic Day Tableaux Are Selected

The defence ministry forms a committee of distinguished persons drawn from various fields to shortlist the best tableau from the received proposals. The proposals have to be submitted by September 27, and the shortlisting of the proposals start in the second week of October.

This expert committee including prominent people in the fields of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography among others holds six to seven rounds of meetings to evaluate the proposals to carry out the shortlisting and the final selection.

The defence ministry has shared basic guidelines about what all the tableaux can or should include. In its first phase of selection, the sketch or design of the proposals is examined and suggestions for modifications, if any, are carried out. Once approved by the committee, the participants have to present three-dimensional models of their proposals. The models are then examined again by the expert panel for final selection.

The final selection of a tableau is based on a combination of factors, including visual appeal, impact on the masses, idea behind it, degree of detailing that went behind it and also the music accompanying it.

It is to be noted that the official representative of an organisation will interact with the members of the committee. Artists or designers of the tableau do not interact directly with the panel members unless directed otherwise. Only one tableau participates from an organisation in the parade. The defence ministry also said it is natural for more proposals to be rejected than those approved given the paucity of time. The best three tableaux are given trophies from the ministry.

The tableaux proposals of Kerala were accepted through the same process in 2018 and 2021, while the tableaux proposals of Tamil Nadu were accepted in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021, according to PTI.

The tableaux proposals of West Bengal were accepted in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021.