New Delhi: Days after news broke of the Union government rejecting the Republic Day tableau submission from Kerala, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi noting her shock at the rejection of the state’s tableau.Congress leader from Bengal Adhir Chowdhury has also written to defence minister Rajnath Singh on the issue. The defence ministry is responsible for the Republic Day parade.Bengal’s tableau was to be themed around Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army.The Union government had recently announced that Republic Day celebrations will now begin every year from January 23 instead of January 24 to include Netaji’s birth anniversary.West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi over the “rejection of proposed tableau of West Bengal for the ensuing Republic Day Parade” and requests to “include the tableau of freedom fighters from West Bengal in the parade” pic.twitter.com/2vtVEA2Hoe— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2022In her letter, Banerjee wrote that the people of Bengal were “deeply pained” by the Union government’s decision to reject the tableau. According to her letter, the Union government did not offer any reasons for rejecting the tableau.Kanchan Gupta, who is Senior Adviser of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting wrote on Twitter that Bengal’s tableau did not meet aesthetic standards.A committee selects tableaus for Republic Day parade. A tableau is selected or rejected on aesthetic grounds. West Bengal Govt’s tableau did not meet standards. Let’s not drag Netaji into this.Disingenuous @ndtv is wrong as always. pic.twitter.com/fblxrYx6zL— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) January 17, 2022Highlighting contributions by Bengal freedom fighters and thinkers, Banerjee wrote in her letter to the prime minister that the tableau would also have had portraits of “some of the most illustrious sons and daughters of this country [including] Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Birsa Munda and many patriots.”The Union defence ministry’s decision to reject Kerala’s Republic Day tableau had also invited criticism for allegedly having been politically motivated.Reports have said that while the Union government pushed for a tableau with a religious theme – featuring Adwaita philosophy proponent Adi Shankaracharya – Kerala’s proposal featured social reformer Sree Narayana Guru. There had reportedly been rounds of back and forth between Kerala and the Union government on placement of statues and what should be front and centre, before the latter ultimately rejected the former’s submission.The Sivagiri Mutt was among those who criticised the move.“It could be an error committed by non-Malayali officers or a deliberate act by the upper caste hegemony. Maybe ignorance or a negative attitude. But the jury’s partisan approach is an insult to lakhs of followers of the Guru and the Mutt. The Central government has enough time left to correct the mistake,” Swami Satchidananda, president of the Sree Narayana Dharma Sanghom Trust which administers the Sivagiri Mutt, told The New Indian Express.The Kerala news outlet Onmanorama has reported that only three states not ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party have had their tableau submissions accepted this time. They are Punjab, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.