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Centre Rejects Telangana Republic Day Tableau

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HYDERABAD: Hopes of Telangana state to showcase its cultural heritage at the first Republic Day parade in 2015 after the state's formation have been dashed with the ministry of defence (MoD) rejecting its proposal for a tableau themed on celebration of Bonalu festival. 

Despite chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao writing to defence minister Arun Jaitely requesting him to consider the Telangana tableau for the R-Day parade, the selection committee has eliminated the new state's proposed tableau from the shortlist. 

Adding to the heartburn of the fledgling state, residuary Andhra Pradesh is among 21 states invited for the selection committee meeting convened on October 28. Telangana officials were not even officially informed why their state was eliminated. Andhra Pradesh is going to the selection committee with its tableau themed on celebration of harvest festival Sankranti. The final selection of tableau from various states for the parade is to be formalized in the final committee meeting to be held on November 12. 

A crestfallen Telangana government is now mulling moving court, according to a senior official in the department of information & public relations (I&PR). 

Both Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh were hoping to make it to the R-Day parade with their tableaus next year. The selection committee had shot down the proposals sent by the then united Andhra Pradesh government for the past five years. 

The selection committee's move has come as a shocker for Telangana as the Bonalu model was shortlisted in the last meeting held on October 7, and the state officials were asked to come up with a miniature 3-D model of the same and present it at the October 28 meeting. 

"It looks like sabotage at a stage after shortlisting our tableau model on October 7. Otherwise, how do you explain the elimination after our officials were asked to present the miniature 3-D model in the next meeting?" said V Srinivas Goud, TRS MLA from Mahbubnagar. 

He said the CM would call a meeting of officials shortly to take stock and a legal option was on the cards. 

While the official reason for rejecting the Andhra Pradesh tableau since 2009 was said to be "sub-standard quality of design and presentation," sources said it was more to do with the political imbroglio in the state in view of the rising demand for separate Telangana. When the bifurcation took place, officials of both states hoped the selection committee would have no problem in giving representation to the two states. 

Ironically, the two states did not get an invite to present their tableau themes by the selection committee which met in mid-September. The Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments sent their representatives voluntarily when they came to know that the committee would be holding its second meeting on September 30. The third meeting was held on October 7. 

"We were not intimated about the selection committee meeting in mid-September while all the other states were invited to present their themes. It was a wild card entry for both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as we went to the second meeting on our own," said P Kiran Kumar, special officer in AP department of information and public relations, who presented the theme on behalf of that state. 

Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh presented three themes each, of which the committee shortlisted one from each state. The Telangana team went with Bathukamma, Bonalu and Golconda Fort, while Andhra Pradesh officials presented a theme projecting AP as a 'sunrise' state in terms of development, Sankranti festival and Kuchipudi dance. 

Kiran Kumar said his team was ready with the miniature 3-D model of Sankranti, prepared by the department artist V Madhu, and hoped it would make it to the R-Day parade finally. 

"The criterion was colour and ease in representing culture as a theme. They had shortlisted Bonalu and Sankaranti, and now we are heartbroken," said Subhash V, assistant director in Telangana department of information & public relations, who led the Telangana team to the selection committee meeting. 

With both the states asked to present the theme in a miniature 3-D form in the next meeting of the selection committee scheduled on October 28, Chandrasekhar Rao wrote to Jaitley last week explaining him how important it was for the fledgling state to showcase its culture and heritage on the national stage. It however, seems his plea cut no ice with the Centre. 

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