TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee is infamous for communal politics. Mamata Didi does not even spare the things of national interests when it comes to communal politics. Thus, after the tableaux of West Bengal was excluded from the upcoming Republic Day 2022 parade, Mamata began crying her noses off to claim that it is an insult to the pride and history of the state. However, her attempts to add communal colours to the issue have failed as West Bengal’s tableau has been rejected for its CM’s incompetency.
Why tableau of West Bengal has been rejected?
There are certain criteria following which the tableaux of states are selected. The participating states have to display elements relevant to their state/ UT/ department, within the overarching theme. The theme given to participants this year was around 75 years of India’s Independence. The theme, the government told willing participants is India@75 – Freedom struggle, Ideas @ 75, Achievements @ 75, Actions @ 75 and Resolve @ 75.
Since there is a process through which tableau of a particular state can be approved and out of 56, only 21 are selected, thus, it is quite natural for some proposals to be rejected.
But, the state government seemingly have overlooked these criteria and is accusing the ruling government of excluding its tableau, which commemorated the contributions of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary.
Refuting the claims, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a series of tweets, told that “An expert committee of eminent personalities from arts shortlist the tableau proposals sent by the states, central ministries and public sector units.”
“For this year’s Republic Day, the Centre received 56 proposals of which 21 were shortlisted, Nirmala Sitharaman said. Existing criteria and proposals for selection were scrupulously followed,” she added.
“Stop seeing bad politics in a display that celebrates India,” Sitharaman said in a tweet.
Moving further, she told, “2018 & 2021: Kerala’s tableau selected. 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 & 2021: Tamil Nadu selected. 2016, 2017, 2019 & 2021: West Bengal selected. “
Mamata ‘deeply pained’ by the exclusion
On January 16, Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Centre rejected the state’s tableau from the Republic Day parade this year. The letter read, “I have been profoundly shocked and hurt by the decision of the Government of India to abruptly exclude the proposed tableau of the Government of West Bengal from the ensuing Republic Day Parade. It is even more baffling for us that the tableau was rejected without assigning any reasons or justifications.”
“I may like to inform you that all the people of West Bengal are deeply pained by this attitude of the central government. It is shocking to find that the contribution of its valiant freedom fighters finds no place in the nation’s ceremony to celebrate the occasion of Republic Day on the 75th year of our Independence. “I urge you to reconsider the decision and include the tableau of freedom fighters from West Bengal in the Republic Day parade on the 75th year of our Independence,” it added.
How Tableaux are Selected
The Defence Ministry constitutes a committee comprising of prominent people in the fields of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography among others to shortlist the best tableau proposals received.
This expert committee holds six to seven rounds of meetings to evaluate the proposals to select the tableau.
In the first phase, the sketch or design of the proposals is inspected to suggest modifications, if any. If approved by the committee, the participants have to display three-dimensional models of their proposals.
The final selection of a tableau is done on the basis of a combination of factors, including visual appeal, impact on the masses, idea behind it, degree of detailing and also the music accompanying it.
As per the sources, “It is natural for more proposals to be rejected than those approved given the paucity of time. The outcry over the rejection of tableaux sets a wrong precedent as chief ministers try to portray the outcome of an “objective” process as a flashpoint between the Centre and states.”
Given the above instances, it is safe to say that tableau of West Bengal has not been approved because of the improper proposal and the ruling government has nothing to do with it. If this was the case, the tableaux proposals of West Bengal would not have been accepted in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021.