Republic Day Parade 2025: 16 State Tableaux, Women Officers, And Citizens To Take Centre Stage

The Republic Day parade of January 26 will retain its military character, but will now have a "larger cultural presence," the defence secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, has said. The parade will now be more 'participative,' a reference to the involvement of more citizens from different walks of life.
The presence of 16 tableaux from the states (and they will have more than defence-related features) and from 15 different ministries and services suggests more socio-cultural inputs as does having more sarpanches from different parts of the country, particularly where the government's flagship programmes have been successfully implemented.
For the 77,000 people attending (32,000 tickets have been sold), there will be no shortage of marching contingents, including one consisting of the Indonesian armed forces (160 of them) keeping in mind that the chief guest is President Prabowo Subianto, but after a recent mishap, the indigenous advanced light helicopter (ALH), currently grounded, will not be part of the flypast. Nor will the Tejas, the light combat aircraft, but the Pralay, a short-range missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be on display for the first time. The absence of the ALH said Singh, "was a little bit of a setback and it will hopefully be sorted out soon." He made the point that the Russian-designed Sukhoi MKI fighters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be part of the flypast, and they have been sufficiently indigenised in recent times, as have the Dornier transport planes. Both are built in India.
The R-Day parade will pay tribute to Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the great leader during the freedom movement and then, India's first home minister and also, tribal leader Birsa Munda. Nari Shakti will not be forgotten--there will be a large number of women officers. Children, awarded for bravery, will be part of the 26 January celebrations.