The tableau of Kerala has been rejected for this year's Republic Day. (Photo: PTI/Representational image)

After West Bengal and Maharashtra, Kerala's tableau proposal has been denied permission for this year's Republic Day parade on January 26.

Kerala proposed a theme comprising the traditional art form of Theyyam and Kalamandalam, depicting art and architecture of the state.

It may be noted that Kerala is the fourth state whose tableau proposal has been rejected for the upcoming Republic Day parade. Earlier, the Ministry of Defence had rejected tableau proposals of Maharashtra, West Bengal and Bihar.

Many opposition leaders have slammed the move including NCP leaders Supriya Sule, Nawab Malik, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and many more.

Slamming the government, Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "India’s diversity, heritage, cultural soft power and essence cannot be done justice after exclusion of massive (area + population) states like Maharashtra, Bengal, Kerala, Delhi, Bihar and Haryana. A very large measure of autonomy and latitude has to be given to states to decide their tableaux!"

After facing criticism from opposition political leaders in Maharashtra and West Bengal, the government rubbished claims that there was any malicious intent behind the move.

According to the government, the tableau proposals received from various states/UTs and central ministries are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture and choreography.

"Many tableaux of BJP-ruled states have also been rejected this year. These states are Haryana, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh. It is pertinent to mention here that the tableau of the government of West Bengal was shortlisted for participation in Republic Day Parade 2019 as an outcome of the same process," the sources said.

For Republic Day Parade 2020, a total of 56 tableaux proposals (32 from states/UTs and 24 from ministries/departments) were received.

Defence Ministry's list of shortlisted participants(tableaux) for Republic Day Parade 2020. pic.twitter.com/adKiUabpxQ ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2020

Out of these, 22 proposals, comprising of 16 states/UTs and six ministries/departments, have finally been shortlisted for participation in the Republic Day Parade 2020 after a series of five meetings.