After Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar, Centre now rejects Kerala's Republic Day tableau proposal

Hitting out at the Centre, Kerala Minister A K Balan on Friday said the decision to reject the tableau is "politically motivated".

"The decision of rejecting Kerala’s tableau is politically motivated. I don’t understand why there is hatred towards all Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Chenda (drums). Have you ever seen a central government who is against federalism in our country, who attacks the Malayali and who gets into a frenzy when it hears Kerala? One of the leaders even asked if Malayalis have two horns. So this is indicating the present state of our country," Balan has been quoted by The Indian Express.

Earlier the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Shiv Sena, NCP and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had hit out at the Centre for rejecting the tableaux proposals of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar.

Linking the rejection of West Bengal's proposal to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, the TMC, which rules West Bengal, has hit back at the Centre saying it has rejected the proposal because of the party's opposition to the new citizenship law.

TMC Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy told NDTV, "The rejection of the West Bengal tableau for the Republic Day parade is discriminatory. It has been done because West Bengal has been opposing the centre's CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and the NRC (National Register of Citizens) plans."

"West Bengal is known to be living state as far as culture, including arts, music and other things are concerned. So obviously, this is a discriminatory step taken by the central government against West Bengal," the senior TMC leader added. 

Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the rejection of Maharashtra's tableau proposal is an insult to the state.

Though the opposition leaders are accusing the Centre of playing "vindictive politics", Bihar is a state which is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in an alliance with the Janata Dal (United).

On the flip side, the list of the states whose tableaux have been selected by the Centre also include Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab which are ruled by BJP's arch-rival Congress.