Female Sepoy RD Priyadarshi from Bhubaneswar will be representing the tableau of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at this year's Republic Day Parade on the Raj Path in New Delhi.
Though Priyadarshi’s ancestral roots are in Dhenkanal, she grew up in the Capital city of Bhubaneswar before joining the elite security force in 2017.
As per reports, this is her third stint at the Republic Day Parade after joining the CRPF and second time in representing the tableau.
Speaking to OTV, Priyadarshi said, “I am very proud to be walking on the Raj Path on the Republic Day. As an Odia, I feel I have made my fellow state-men proud.”
She said the tableau is based on the themes of the Indo-Pak war, last year's Chinese aggression in Ladakh and the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
It is pertinent to mention here that there will be no tableau from Odsha this year on the Rajpath. The Odisha government had sent six tableau designs to the Expert Committee under the Union Ministry of Defence for consideration – Paika Revolution and Buxi Jagabandhu, Krushna Chandra Gajapati and Chakhi Khuntia, Freedom Fighter Veer Surendra Sai, Development After Independence, Odisha and Hockey, Odisha and Natural Disasters.
As per reports, only the design of Paika Revolution could pass the initial three rounds and reached the final round. However, the design was rejected in the fourth round. Though the reason for the rejection is still unclear, it is alleged that the Odisha tableau got the red signal over a trivial ground.