For the third year running, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is an issue that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP find themselves wrangling over in West Bengal.
In the run-up to the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021, the Centre announced that the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on January 23 will be observed as “Parakram Diwas (Day of Valour)”, leading the TMC and the Forward Bloc to accuse the Narendra Modi government of using Netaji as a political prop ahead of the Assembly elections.
Last year, faced flak from the TMC after the state’s proposed Republic Day tableau was dropped. The proposed tableau was set to commemorate the contributions of Bose and his army on his 125th birth anniversary year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a letter to Modi in which she urged that the government reconsider its decision. Later, in September, the PM unveiled a 28-ft Netaji statue at India Gate.
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This year will see Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat address a rally at Shahid Minar in Kolkata to pay tribute to Bose. This, BJP insiders feel, will help consolidate its position among the Bengali middle class that will prove to be a crucial electoral constituency in the Lok Sabha elections next year. The popularity of a pan-Bengal icon like Netaji is also something that the BJP hopes to benefit from ahead of the coming panchayat elections.
Sources in the RSS said Bhagwat will be in West Bengal on a five-day tour beginning January 18 and the event on Netaji’s birth anniversary will also be attended by noted personalities from West Bengal and neighbouring states.
But, non-BJP parties reacted to the news of Bhagwat’s visit with scepticism. TMC state vice-president Jayprakash Majumdar said, “In 2021, an event on the birth anniversary of Netaji was held at Victoria Memorial that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Everyone knew what had happened at that event. We have doubts about whether this event is being organised to pay respect to Netaji or get political dividends out of it ahead of the panchayat polls. It is also surprising to see Bhagwat attending this programme as RSS never showed respect to Netaji. They have always been an ardent follower of Veer Savarkar whom Netaji had refused to meet before Independence.”
Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty targeted both the RSS and the TMC. “Mohan Bhagwat is free to come here and hold programmes. The RSS is growing in Bengal under the patronage of Mamata Banerjee. It is all well for the Sangh, but it is surprising to see them organising an event like this. The ideologies of Netaji and the RSS are poles apart. The RSS has always praised Syama Prasad Mukherjee and Netaji always was against Mukherjee. Then, how will Mohan Bhagwat talk about Netaji’s ideology? They are now glorifying Netaji to serve their political purposes.”
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Another senior CPI(M) leader said, “The BJP and the RSS are doing this not only for Bengal but also for our country as a whole. They want to propagate a ‘Hindu Netaji’ and posit his method of armed struggle in opposition to Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence. This is dangerous.”
But dismissing the rivals’ concerns, a senior BJP leader said, “Netaji has made a place for himself as a model hero among Bengalis. Praising Netaji will benefit us as it will help us with Bengali Hindu voters. Because of Congress’s Gandhian attitude, Netaji’s place in Indian history was diluted. Narendra Modi and the BJP-RSS are trying to correct that. What is wrong with it?”
BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, “The Sangh is not at all a political outfit. It is above politics. The task of the Sangh is to build a strong and prosperous nation. They do this work through cultural nationalism. So, this is nothing related to politics.”
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