Commonwealth Games float may miss scoring on Rajpath this Republic Day

The government might be pitching next October’s Commonwealth Games as the most prestigious event in 2010 but it seems the nation will miss out on seeing a Games-themed tableaux roll down the Rajpath on the Republic Day next month.

The reason: lack of coordination between the Sports ministry and the Delhi government, involved in organising the sports event in the Capital between October 3 and 14 next year.

And the result: both the Delhi government and the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, through the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, ended up deciding on the mega-sports event as their tableaux themes for the 2010 Republic Day.

The Ministry of External Affairs had called for entries this July.

While Delhi’s entry on the Games tableaux was struck down by Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister P K Tripathi in favour of the entry designed by the Sports ministry, sources said the Ministry of External Affairs might strike down this entry, too, on grounds of “unimpressive” design.

Tripathi is also Principal Secretary in the office of R Narayanaswamy, advisor to the government for the Games and a member of the Games Organising Committee.

According to a source in the Delhi government, while other options included themes like ‘Green Delhi’, Delhi as a city representative of India, and ‘Development of Delhi’, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit reportedly recommended doing a tableaux called ‘Tryst with Destiny’, ideas of Jawaharlal Nehru being the main theme.

“But the Directorate of Information and Publicity thought the Games should be showcased in the Delhi tableaux, as it is expected to show a new face of Delhi in 2010,” the source said. “This was decided as the theme to be sent to the Ministry of External Affairs in July.”

The official added: “But it was then decided in August that since two departments cannot send the same theme, Delhi’s plan was to be dropped.”

This is the third time that Delhi’s theme for a tableaux has been rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs. The last tableaux showcased by Delhi was in 2006 — named ‘Stree Shakti’, it displayed the government’s initiatives towards empowering women.

An official in the Games Organising Committee said the Sports ministry’s proposal has not been rejected “entirely”. “There were some discussions over the design,” the official said, “but the screening committee of the ministry has asked us to revise the designs and submit the proposal again.”