Vijayawada: The Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will not have much of a participation in the upcoming Republic Day parade on January 26 this year.
Their entries for the tableau procession did not get the approval.
In the three-level selection process of tableaus, Andhra Pradesh had presented Savara tribal culture and its tradition, which passed two levels of the selection but got eliminated in the final stage. Telangana’s entry of Sammakka Sarakka Tribal Festival did not make it past the preliminary stage of design itself and was disqualified.
In the aftermath, opinions differ on how and why the Telugu states could not participate in the R-Day parade. Among the reasons proffered are the north-south bias, and the entries not being good enough to impress the selection committee. IPR joint director Pothula Kiran said they put in their best in efforts to participate in the prestigious parade but it went in vain.
The Republic Day parade is where India showcases its military might, varied cultural diversity, development in science and technology and economic strength.
The states were asked to present three-four concepts but none of them, including the Savara tribal culture and tradition, could qualify in the final selection. Ministry of Defence (MoD) was to make the selections on tableaus and states had to undergo a strict scrutiny before the MoD’s Tableau Selection committee.
In this year’s line-up, 29 states and seven Union territories will perform at the Republic Day parade. However, tableaus from only 15 states will take part in the parade. Jammu & Kasmir will be the ‘mandate’ along with one state from among the North-Eastern states.
Post-bifurcation, AP got the chance to participate in 2015 parade for ‘Sankranti Sambaralu’. A senior government official said on the condition of anonymity that the rejections came on several grounds. On some occasions, the Centre did not want states to promote their model of governance and so dismissed their applications.
