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DD's live coverage of the Republic Day Parade, though largely praised, received flak on social media

Doordarshan’s live coverage of the Republic Day Parade, though largely praised, received brickbats on social media. Many thought the cutaways to show crowd reaction were at times too long and interfered with the real action, particularly when the floats passed by and dancing troupes performed. What caught the fancy of social media was the blink-and-you-miss-it shot of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar nodding off during the parade. There was much mirth on social media about how the minister was thinking of the next “surgical strike”. Whenever a float of a particular state or ministry made its way to the saluting base, DD would cut away to show the reaction of some politician from that state or the minister handling that portfolio. When the float from Arunachal Pradesh passed by, the camera showed Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju with his young son on his lap. For the Karnataka tableau, the camera cut away to show Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman when former prime minister H D Deve Gowda was also in the audience. Sitharaman is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, but hails from Tamil Nadu and married into a Telugu family.