Chandigarh: ‘Mann wanted tableau to display his, Kejri’s pics’

Chandigarh : The Punjab BJP on Thursday hit out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accusing him of politicising the non-inclusion of state’s tableau for the Republic Day parade and alleged that the AAP government insisted that the tableau carried his and Arvind Kejriwal’s photos.

State BJP President Sunil Jakhar told reporters here that one of the reasons the tableau was not shortlisted was its “crude” make. “Second, the AAP government was adamant that Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann’s photos should be on it, which is not allowed as per protocol. This was one of the reasons for the rejection of the Punjab tableau,” Jakhar said.

Mann had on Wednesday slammed the BJP-led Centre for not including the state’s tableau in the Republic Day parade, calling it a step towards removing the word Punjab from the national anthem. “If they have their way they will take out the word ‘Punjab’ from the national anthem Jana Gana Mana,” Mann had told reporters here. Mann had said that like last year, this time too, Punjab’s tableau was not going to be a part of the Republic Day parade on January 26.

“The Centre has discriminated against Punjab,” Mann had alleged, adding that both Punjab and Delhi are not on the list. Jakhar said that it was unfortunate that Mann chose to “politicise” the issue. Punjab is a border state, a sensitive state, and the Chief Minister is trying to whip up sentiments with his claim that the Centre discriminated against Punjab, he said.

Jakhar, who had joined BJP defecting from Congress, said that every state’s tableau does not every year find a place in the Republic Day parade and sometimes some are not included for various reasons, including technical ones. In the past 17 years, there have been nine occasions when Punjab’s tableau has not been included for the Republic Day parade, including in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, he said.

“The language he used for the Prime Minister yesterday is condemnable,” he said. Mann had on Wednesday said the entire world wants to see Punjab’s rich culture and contribution of Punjabis in the freedom struggle, but the Centre does not want tableaux that depict this and display pictures of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai, and Uddham Singh.