NEW DELHI: Kerala's tableau has been included in the list of states that have been given approval for the tableau presentation at the Republic Day parade after six rounds of screening.

Kerala presented a tableau with the theme of women's empowerment. Apart from Kerala, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and the Union Territories of Dada Nagar Haveli-Daman & Diu, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and selected departments are presenting tableau.

Last year, the authorities had denied permission for tableaus from Kerala to participate on Republic Day. The Union Ministry of Defense explained that the reason for rejecting the float submitted by Kerala for the Republic Day Parade was due to lack of clarity in the theme and design flaws. After the allegation that there was a political dimension behind the denial of permission to Kerala's tableau, the authorities had clarified that the design and concept of the tableau based on the theme Tourism @75 was not convincing to the audience.

Apart from Kerala, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to the Centre against the exclusion of their states' tableaus from the Republic Day parade. Similarly, in 2018, the Centre had also denied permission to Kerala's tableau based on renaissance.