Pointing out that Tamil Nadu’s contribution in the country’s freedom struggle predated the 1857 battle, Mr Stalin said its role was “no less than other States.”

Besides, a photo exhibition titled ‘Tamil Nadu in Freedom Struggle’, which was held earlier in Chennai, would be organised in major cities across the country.

Mr. Singh, in his letter to Ms. Banerjee, said: “It was our government that celebrated the 75th anniversary of the government-in-exile of India led by Netaji in a grand manner in 2018 and honoured the surviving soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj in the Republic Day Parade.”

“I would also like to tell you that this time the CPWD tableau has also paid tribute to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary,” he added.

Explaining the selection process, Mr. Singh said the tableaux proposals received are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture and choreography. The Committee examines the proposals on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations. “As per the time slot allotted for tableaux in the overall duration of the parade, short listing of tableaux is done by the Expert Committee.”

A Defence official said on Tuesday that a total of 21 tableaux, including from nine Ministries and government Departments were selected this year. The States from which tableaux have been selected include Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

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