Republic Day celebrations to this year to begin on January 23

The Centre will now begin celebrations for the Republic Day every year from January 23 instead of January 24 to include the birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose, government sources said.

The development is in line with the Modi government's norm of instituting newer public holidays connected to India’s freedom struggle.

The government had earlier started celebrating Bose's birth anniversary as Parakram Divas and chose to observe August 14, a day before Independence Day, as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.

Similarly, Sardar Patel's birth anniversary on October 31 is celebrated as Ekta Divas or National Unity Day, while November 15, the birth anniversary of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, is celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.

The Modi administration has sought to promote the legacies of leaders it believes have been neglected by the Congress regime over the last seven decades.

Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Bose are some of the key figures of India’s freedom struggle promoted by the government.

Recently, on the death anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri on January 11, there was a significant media push, courtesy of the Modi government. Several of the government’s handles posted messages and tweets remembering the former PM.

As part of the government’s efforts to promote Netaji, the 2014 Modi Cabinet had declassified over 75 files on the leader in two batches in March and April in 2016. The Congress had accused the BJP of trying to usurp its freedom fighter icons.

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