Explained: how tableaus for the Republic Day parade are selected

Do you wake up early every year on January 26 and wait to see the tableau from your state come down the Rajpath as part of the Republic Day parade?

Chances are that one fine year you were met with disappointment when you didn’t spot your state tableau.

This year the tableau from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala will not feature in the parade and the state govts are not very happy about it.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin even wrote letters to the Prime Minister expressing hurt.

The Defence Minister replied to the complaints and said the selection has been done as per prescribed norms and in an extremely transparent manner.

He said only 12 states were shortlisted as the parade size had been cut down due to Covid-19

How exactly are the state tableaus selected?

Around September every year the govt invites all the states, the Union Territories, Central Government departments, and a few constitutional authorities to participate in the parade.

This year invitations were sent out on September 16. The process of shortlisting began in the second week of October.

The participants are given an overarching theme within which they have to showcase elements related to their state, union territory or department. The theme for this time is 75 years of India’s Independence.

The govt also gives basic guidelines on what the tableau can or should include,

The tableau cannot have any writing or use of logos, except for the name of the state/ UT/ department, which should be written in Hindi on the front, English on the back, and a regional language on the sides.

An expert committee of distinguished persons from fields like art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography etc is formed.

The states have to first submit a sketch of their tableau design which the committee vets and then makes suggestions for changes.

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Once the sketches are approved, the states have to present 3D models of their tableau to the committee in the next around.

The shortlisted participants are provided with a tractor and a trailer each and tableau has to fit on that. Participants are not allowed to have any additional vehicle.

The tableau should not be more than 45 feet long, 14 feet wide and 16 feet high from the ground.