Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah strongly rebuked Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government “denying” the state the opportunity to present a tableau at the 26 January Republic Day Parade, scheduled to be held in national capital Delhi.
On Tuesday Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took to microblogging platform X to hit out at Indian government by accusing them of ‘denying’ the Karnataka tableau because ‘there is Congress government’ in the state.
“The central government has insulted the seven crore Kannadigas by denying the opportunity for the state’s tableau at the Republic Day parade to be held in New Delhi on January 26,” Siddaramaiah said on social media platform X.
The fact that the Congress government is in power in the state seems to be a factor of concern for the BJP-led central government, the chief minister said adding that, from devolution of tax to the injustice in drought relief, to the sale of banks, ports, and airports built by Kannadigas, the Centre is constantly attacking the people of the state with political malice.
In May 2023, the Congress defeated the Basavaraj Bommai-led Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government to win the governance seat in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Siddaramaiah in his post said the proposals for Republic Day tableau from Karnataka included showcasing the life of Mysuru ruler Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, Kittur Rani Chennamma who fought against the British like Jhansi Rani Lakshmi Bai and Bengaluru founder Nadaprabhu Kempegowda.
“We had conceptualised the tableau of Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar to depict his immense contributions to democracy and development of our state. We had also sent proposals to depict the contributions of Kittur Rani Chennamma and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda too along with the proposals to showcase Karnataka’s rich heritage and Brand Bengaluru,” the chief minister explained.
“However, the central committee rejected our request, depriving us of the opportunity to introduce the nation to our state’s immense achievements and exemplary figures,” he alleged.
Several tableau proposals were sent from Karnataka, but unfortunately the central government has rejected all these proposals, Siddaramaiah rued.
The chief minister recalled that Karnataka faced a similar situation last year as well, when the state’s tableau was initially dismissed but later allowed keeping Karnataka elections in mind.
“This time, the central government has once more continued its trend of insulting Kannadigas,” he charged.
CM Siddaramaiah also questioned the BJP MPs from Karnataka for not demanding that the state be allowed to present its tableau “It is unfortunate that the MPs of @BJP4Karnataka are not questioning this injustice. They have become puppets of Narendra Modi. To whom are they loyal? Kannadigas or Narendra Modi?” he asked on ‘X’.
The alleged denying of opportunity to participate in the tableau presentation for the Republic Day parade was also made by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann.
CM Mann had last month lash out at the BJP-led central government over the non-inclusion of the state’s tableau for the Republic Day parade, alleging the Centre has discriminated against the state.
