A war of words broke out between the ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP on Thursday after the Defence Ministry rejected the West Bengal government's proposed tableau for the upcoming Republic Day parade. While the ruling party in Bengal called it an insult to the people of the state for protesting against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the saffron party alleged that the state government did not adhere to rules before submitting the proposal. Accusing the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre of having a "vindictive attitude" against the state, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Tapas Roy told PTI, "Just because West Bengal has been opposing the anti-people policies of the BJP government, a step-motherly treatment is being meted out to the state. As we have opposed anti-people laws like CAA, the Centre has rejected our tableau proposal." This is not the first time that West Bengal's tableau proposal has been rejected. There have been previous instances also, he added. "Such cheap politics won't deter us from opposing anti-people policies. The BJP has insulted the people of West Bengal and they would get a befitting reply for it in the near future," the TMC minister said. Responding to the allegations, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the tableau was rejected as the state government didn't properly follow the rules and procedure in submitting the proposal. "The state government has not followed the rules. Other states have followed them, so their tableau proposals were accepted. The TMC should stop doing politics on each and every issue," Ghosh said. The West Bengal government's proposal was rejected after an Expert Committee examined it in two rounds of meeting, a statement by the ministry read. "The tableau proposal of the West Bengal government was not taken forward for further consideration by the Expert Committee after deliberations in the second meeting. It is pertinent to mention here that the tableau of the Government of West Bengal was short-listed for participation in the Republic Day Parade 2019 as an outcome of the same process," it added. Out of a total 56, 22 proposals - 16 from states and union territories and six from central ministries - have been shortlisted for the January 26 event in the national capital. The Ministry had received 32 tableau proposals from states and union territories and 24 from central ministries and departments, PTI reported. "Out of these, 22 proposals, comprising 16 states/UTs and 6 ministries/departments, have finally been short-listed for participation in the Republic Day Parade 2020 after a series of five meetings," the statement said. Every year, the Ministry of Defence invites proposals from all states, union territories, central ministries and departments for participation in the Republic Day Parade. These proposals are then evaluated by the Expert Committee comprising eminent persons in the fields of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography, etc. They are finalised on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations, the statement said. Due to time constraints, only a limited number of tableau can be short-listed for participation in the parade. "The selection process in vogue, leads to participation of the best tableau in the parade," the statement added.
