Centre rejects Bengal’s R-Day tableau on Didi’s pet project for 3rd time in 8 years 

KOLKATA: The Centre has rejected Bengal’s proposed

Republic Day

tableau highlighting CM Mamata Banerjee’s pet project,

Kanyashree

, for the third time in eight years, causing the

Trinamool Congress

government to cry foul.
“It is unfortunate that the Kanyashree Prakalpa, which has been applauded internationally by the UN and other agencies, isn’t acknowledged by the Union government,” minister Shashi Panja said.

“Had this

tableau

not been rejected, the scientific approach of the Bengal government in the uplift of women under the dynamic leadership of the CM would have come to the fore, contrasting it with the failures of the Union government on this score.”

Sources said that the defence ministry usually screens proposals for Republic Day tableaux. Bengal’s proposal was rejected allegedly before state officials could make a presentation.
“The proposals of several states where non-BJP parties are in government, including Punjab, have been rejected. This only indicates the Centre’s partisanship,” a TMC functionary said.
Bengal’s proposed Kanyashree tableau was previously rejected in 2015 and 2020. Overall, this is the fifth time the state’s proposals for Republic Day tableaux have been denied, including in 2017 and 2022.

In 2022, the rejection of a tableau themed on Netaji and INA triggered a controversy, with CM Mamata writing to PM Modi.

Watch Saurabh Bharadwaj over exclusion of Delhi’s tableau from R-Day Parade