A year after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged the Narendra Modi government had rejected her state's tableau proposal for the Republic Day parade, the CPI(M)-led government in Kerala is making the same claims.
On Wednesday, M.V. Jayarajan, private secretary of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, claimed Kerala's proposed float—depicting the Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924-25—for the 2019 Republic Day parade had been unofficially rejected. Jayarajan said the Vijayan government was yet to get written confirmation from the Centre.
Another Kerala government official claimed the defence ministry had organised a meeting of state representatives where Kerala was “unofficially informed” its proposal was rejected. However, sources in the Central government said the defence ministry was yet to finalise the names of the states and union territories that would present tableaux for the Republic Day Parade.
Officials in Kerala had claimed the defence ministry had suggested the state consider the Vaikom Satyagraha as an option as 2019 marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was among the prominent national leaders to have visited Kerala to extend support to the Vaikom Satyagraha, which was a public campaign to end untouchability by allowing access to people of all castes to the Lord Shiva temple at Vaikom, near Kottayam district.
The alleged rejection of the Republic Day float proposal comes at a time when the governments of Pinarayi Vijayan and Narendra Modi are at loggerheads on several issues, including funding for rehabilitation work of places affected by the Kerala floods and the simmering tension over the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple.
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The issue comes as the Kerala government has launched a massive campaign to promote renaissance values to support its stance on allowing entry of women of all ages to Sabarimala.
Last December, Banerjee claimed the Modi government had rejected West Bengal's tableau for the 2018 Republic Day parade as it was based on the theme of 'unity in harmony'. Banerjee called the rejection an “insult to the people of West Bengal”. Banerjee alleged the Modi government had rejected the state's tableau for the 2015 Republic Day, which was based on the theme of the Kanyashree scheme, a cash-transfer programme to curb child marriage and help girl students stay in school.
(With PTI inputs)