‘Party moving on wrong track in Bengal’: Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Bose quits BJP

“I gave a lot of proposals to the party on how we should work which were not accepted. The party is moving on the wrong track in Bengal. There is polarisation, vote-bank politics and divisive politics that ruined our chances in Bengal,” Bose said.

Bose had joined BJP in 2016 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a rally in Howrah. He unsuccessfully contested elections twice on a BJP ticket – in the 2016 state Assembly polls and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “When I joined BJP, I was promised that I would be allowed to propagate the inclusive ideology of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sarat Chandra Bose. But nothing of that sort happened,” Bose said.

Bose was appointed the West Bengal BJP vice-president in 2016 but was dropped during the 2020 organisational reshuffle.

In his resignation letter to BJP national president J P Nadda, Bose wrote, “My discussions (with BJP) then centred on the inclusive ideology of the Bose brothers (Netaji and his elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose, also a freedom fighter). My understanding, both then and later, had been that I would propagate this ideology across the country on the BJP platform. It was also decided to form an Azad Hind Morcha within the framework of BJP with the primary objective to propagate Netaj’s ideology of uniting all communities as Bharatiyas, irrespective of religion, caste and creed.”

He added, “My ardent promotional efforts to achieve these laudable objectives have not received any support from the BJP, either at the Centre or at the state level in West Bengal. I had put forward a detailed proposal suggesting a Bengal strategy to reach out to the people of the state. My proposals were ignored.”

Asked whether he would join another party, Bose told The Indian Express, “I am not quitting politics. I will always work for the people. So far no one has offered anything. My politics is based on Netaji’s and Sarat Chandra Bose’s ideologies. If my ideologies match with any other party’s ideology, I will definitely consider joining it.”

Over the years, Bose has been critical of the West Bengal BJP unit over several issues. He had also opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019.

Reacting to his resignation, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told The Indian Express, “We are talking about Chandrayaan and not about Chandra Bose. For quite a long time, he was not at all in touch with the party. He has been absent from political activities. He was not at all active…Therefore, it is not surprising that he is quitting the party.”