Image Courtesy: deccanherald.com
For the first time in 13 years, this is the first time Karnataka’s proposals have been rejected by the Union government which has kicked up a row with the Opposition Congress creating a political storm, reports The Deccan Herald. Meanwhile, the Karnataka Nodal Officer for Tableau C R Naveen issued a clarification on Sunday, January 8, stating that the state “did not get a chance” to display its tableau as it had participated in previous years during the Republic Day parade.
On Saturday, January 7, the leader of the opposition in legislative assembly and former chief minister, Siddaramaiah took to Twitter sharply criticising the chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai for the rejection of the state’s tableau by the Centre. In multiple tweets, Siddaramaiah said, “It is unfortunate to know that Karnataka will not be participating in the Republic Day parade this year. Rejection of Karnataka’s tableaux reflects how serious Karnataka BJP is about upholding the pride of our state.”
A senior official hastened to clarify the situation. One told the newspaper that Karnataka was perhaps the only state in the country to get a chance to display its tableau for 13 years in a row, which provided an opportunity to depict the state’s culture for over a decade.
In a statement, released by the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Naveen stated that the union government had issued guidelines providing opportunity to the states that did not take part or took part least number of times during the last eight years. “If the lists of states that took part in the previous year and the states selected this year are compared, it is evident that all the three prize-winning states in 2022 are not selected and even those states that took part last year are also not selected. Hence, Karnataka has not got the chance to take part in the Republic Day parade,” the note stated.
“In these years, it has won prizes for its theme. The state had won first prize for Shravanabelagola Gommateshwara statue tableau in 2005, four times it bagged second prize and three times it bagged third prize,” the official explained.
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