How different is Republic Day 2021? Small parade on Rajpath to defiant tractor march, here’s all you need to know

The situation is somewhat similar to last year when the central government was facing large-scale protests on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act passed in 2019. The traditional parade of Republic Day, the most prominent attraction, will also be performed with substantial changes, the Indian Express reported.

Significant Changes in Republic Day 2021 Parade

Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, the government has decided to downgrade the scale of the parade by reducing the number of spectators and size of the parade contingents. From a peak of 1.25 lakh spectators allowed last year, the government has decided to limit the number of spectators to less than 25,000. The parade tickets for the general public have also been sized down to only 4500 for this year. Similarly, the government has also decided to drop the number of contingents to 96, in contrast to 144 registered last year. The parade route has also been shortened, and the delegations will only move up to the National Stadium. Earlier, the parade used to march up to the Red Fort.

New additions to the 2021 Parade

Out of 32 tableaux in the parade, Ladakh’s newly formed Union territory will participate for the first time. The tableaux will showcase the Indian Astronomical Observatory at Hanle near Leh in Ladakh. Continuing the tradition of participating in a friendly nation contingent, a special Bangladeshi contingent that has already arrived in the country will march in the parade. Previously, France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contingents participated in the annual parade in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

No Chief Guest at the Parade

The arrival of the new strain of Coronavirus and the sudden spike in the number of cases in England forced UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to give miss India’s Republic Day event. Johnson, who would have been the chief guest for this year’s Republic Day ceremony, has canceled his visit, and for the first time in 55 years, the ceremony will be conducted without the presence of the Chief Guest.

How will the farmers’ tractor rally pan out?

The protesting farmers have said that they would only commence the tractory rally once the official parade has completed its course on the day. A pre-decided route in coordination with the Delhi Police has also been formulated by the farm leaders on the outskirts of the capital city for the tractor rally. The police forces in Haryana and Delhi have also stepped up the vigil to ward off the miscreants from the event.

According to protesting farmers, about 50000 tractor-trolleys will arrive in the national capital for the Republic Day rally. Balwant Singh Ghudani, a farmer from Ludhiana, Punjab, told the Indian Express that going by the number of tractors and trolleys, the farmer’s rally will last several days. In addition to the overwhelming number of protesting farmers from neighboring Punjab, UP, and Haryana, as many as 60 Vidarbha farmers who committed suicide are also expected to participate in the Republic Day protests against the three farm laws which the government passed.

Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, a Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) leader, told the Indian Express that as many as 25000 farmers and 10000 tractors/trolleys will march in Bengaluru on Republic Day to mark solidarity with the farm movement.