Sad that Punjab's tableaus not included in Republic Day parade: CM Bhagwat Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Friday slammed the Centre for excluding the states tableau from the Republic Day parade in Delhi stating that the occasion is incomplete without a state that has made significant sacrifices for the countryDuring a Republic Day event in Ludhiana Mann mentioned that the rejected tableaus were included in the states parade He emphasized Punjabs loyalty and urged against creating a situation that distrusts this loyaltyRecently the chief minister had said the Narendra Modi government rejected the tableau of his state because of its antiPunjab syndrome newswire PTI reportedThe Centre has rejected as baseless Manns criticism of the BJPled government for not including the states tableau in the Republic Day parade and his allegations of discriminationIn a statement following Manns allegations the Ministry of Defence earlier said The tableau proposal of Punjab was considered in the first three rounds of a meeting of the expert committee After the third round the tableau of Punjab could not be taken forward for not aligning to the broader themes of this years tableauAt the Ludhiana Republic Day event where he unfurled the national flag Mann said Punjabis have made countless sacrifices for the motherland fought wars and were at the forefront of the countrys freedom struggleBut it is sad when Punjabs tableaus were not included in the Republic Day parade Just now we have taken out these tableaus here before you Is there anything in them which is odd These tableaus show photos of our prominent freedom fighters our rich culture sacrifices of our valiant heroes Then how can you celebrate and imagine a Republic Day without them he told the gatheringMann said Punjab meets the food needs of the nation Our water table has gone down And then they take cudgels they tell us they wont give MSP he said attacking the CentreThe chief minister said Punjab shares a 553kmlong border with Pakistan and drones drugs weapons keep coming in from there We have to pay attention on that front tooPunjab is a very loyal state Kindly dont create such a situation dont mistrust our loyalty he addedMann also said that he was anguished with the Army not giving a guard of honour during the last rites of Agniveer Amritpal Singh who died in Jammu and Kashmir on October 11 last yearThe chief minister later shared the news on the personal front too saying I want to make a personal announcement In my home too I am expecting the birth of a child in March My wife Dr Gurpreet is sevenmonth pregnant Our only wish is that be it a girl or a boy the child should be healthyHe further said his government was taking several steps to empower women We believe in kaam ki rajneeti and not naam ki rajneeti We have adopted the model of the Kejriwal government in Punjab too Mann addedHe said that on Saturday the Punjab government will launch the Sadak Surakhya Force Road Safety Force to provide timely assistance to road accident victims With inputs from PTI