West Bengal tableau not allowed in R-Day parade: TMC

KOLKATA: A row broke out today over selection of state tableaux for the main Republic Day parade in Delhi with Trinamool Congress saying West Bengal's float was not allowed despite requests by the state government.

"Bengal tableau for Republic Day depicting the path-breaking Kanya shree initiative was not allowed. We made several requests but they were rejected. But life goes on," TMC national spokesperson Derek O'Brien told PTI in Kolkata.

Reacting to O'Brien's contention, BJP called it unfortunate and slammed West Bengal's ruling party for politicising the matter regarding depicting of state tableaux. The saffron party also said it is a case of TMC's "petty mindset".

"It's very unfortunate that on a vary auspicious day of Republic Day, we have political parties making political statements," BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said.

Rao said selection of state tableaux are decided by a committed headed by the Defence Secretary and comprising many other experts.

"These are not decisions taken politically and this decision was conveyed many many weeks ago," he said.

Another BJP spokesperson Siddharth Nat Singh took a swipe at O' Brien, a former quiz master, saying he should now be called "politicising master" because he has "politicised" Republic Day.

"It(the TMC remark) showed their petty mindset," Union Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma said.

CPI leader D Raja said there should be transparency in selection of state floats for the country's main R-day parade.

"The time has come for some transparency on the matter," he said.

Bengal`s unique Kanyashree Project has received international acclaim when the Department for International Development, United Kingdom and UNICEF selected the scheme for presentation at the `Girl Summit 2014.

Under the project, girls between the ages of 13 and 18 years, studying in Class VIII to Class XII in an institute affiliated to the state government are eligible for an annual stipend of Rs 500.

A one-time grant of Rs 25,000 for girls between 18 and 19 years was also offered to enable them to pursue higher education or a vocational or sports course in a state-government affiliated institute.