Kerala's Republic Day tableau has been rejected by the Defence Ministry for the fourth time in six years.
It was announced that the parade at Kartavya Path on January 26 would be 'women centric', a focus reiterated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he addressed a massive gathering of women at Thrissur in central Kerala earlier this month.
Kerala had proposed ten recommendations for its tableau, but none met the approval. The state won the best float prize in 2014 and had impressed at last year's Republic Day parade when the theme was 'Nari Shakti' (women power).
Incidentally, the theme of BJP's Mahila Conference in Thrissur on January 3, which was inaugurated by the PM, was 'Sthree Shakthi Modikk Oppam' (Women power with Modi).
At the event, Modi hailed the women of Kerala. He mentioned AV Kuttimalu, Rosamma Punnoose and Accamma Cherian and lauded the efforts of Karthiyaniamma and Bhageerathi Amma, who proved that age was no bar for education. Tribal singer and National Award winner Nanjiamma was also mentioned.
A host of popular women of Kerala, including P T Usha, Shobhana, Minnu Mani, Sosamma Iype and Vaikom Vijayalakshmi shared the stage with the PM in Thrissur.
The state's tableaux were rejected in 2019, 2020 and 2022 as well. Below are the subjects Kerala chose for those parades:
2019: Kerala's float was on Vaikom Satyagraha.
2020: Kerala proposed a theme comprising Kalamandalam and the traditional art form of Theyyam.
2022: The float depicted social reformer and spiritual leader Sree Narayana Guru.
Major features of this year's parade
A total of 16 tableaux from states and Union Territories and central ministries and departments will roll down the Kartavya Path during the parade.
The states and Union Territories that will be represented at the parade are Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana.
According to Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, the parade will be heralded by 100 women artists with Indian musical instruments. The parade will also witness an all-women tri-services contingent marching down the ceremonial boulevard for the first time, and the central armed police forces contingents will also consist of women personnel, he said.
A 95-member marching team and 33-member band contingent from France will also take part in the parade. Along with the aircraft of the Indian Air Force, one Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft and two Rafale fighter jets of the French Air Force will participate in the fly-past. French President Emmanuel Macron will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.
(With PTI inputs)