No West Bengal tableau in Republic Day parade this year

This comes in the backdrop of Mamata Banerjee leading the protests against the citizenship amendment bill and against the central government.

The proposals of 16 states/Union Territories and six ministries/departments have been shortlisted for taking part in this year’s Republic Day parade, but the tableau pitch made by West Bengal did not make the cut.

TMC Supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee(PTI Photo)

This comes in the backdrop of Mamata Banerjee leading the protests against the citizenship amendment bill and against the central government.

“The tableau proposal of West Bengal government was examined by the expert committee in two rounds of meetings,” a defence ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

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“The committee examines the proposals on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations,” he said, adding that due to time constraints, only a limited number of tableaux can be shortlisted. The selection process leads to participation of the best tableaux in the parade, he said.

A total of 56 tableaux proposals (from 32 from states/UTs and 24 from ministries/departments) were received for being considered for the 2020 parade. Of these, a total of 22 proposals have been shortlisted after five meetings, he said.

TMC MP Saugata Roy said, “To exclude Bengal would be gross discrimination. Bengal represents a rich heritage and its exclusion shows the partisanship of the Modi-Shah duo.”