New Delhi, January 3: A political controversy has erupted over the rejection of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala's tableau proposals for the Republic Day 2020 parade. A total of 32 states and union territories, and 24 Ministries and Departments sent their tableau proposals for the Republic Day 2020 parade. The Defence Ministry has accepted tableau proposals from 16 states and union territories that are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Republic Day 2020 Tableau Row: Mamata Banerjee Govt Slams Centre For Rejecting Tableau, Says ‘BJP Insulted West Bengal for Protesting CAA’.

"The other tableau proposals were rejected as they didn't match the panel's expectation," a senior Defence Ministry official was quoted by IANS as saying. The six Ministries and Departments, whose proposals made to the shortlist, are the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the Department of Financial Services, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Shipping.

According to the government, tableau proposals were selected after a series of five meetings. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) lawmaker Supriya Sule alleged the Modi government was behaving in a "prejudiced" manner. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) criticised the Centre over the rejection of West Bengal's Republic Day tableau and called it discriminatory.

"The state was being targeted for opposing the new citizenship law (CAA) and a proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC)," the TMC said. Kerala Law Minister A K Balan also alleged that the Centre's move was politically motivated. The Defence Ministry which takes the final call of tableau proposals, however, denied the allegation, adding that of the 56 proposals, only 22 were accepted.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 03, 2020 11:08 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).