Netaji Subhas Bose is beyond politics and Bengal BJP has shot itself in the foot

The BJP, which has spent decades attacking the Congress and the Trinamool Congress for ignoring the legacy of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, has found itself in hot water in West Bengal over the celebrated freedom fighter. The BJP, which swept to power in the state in May, is now under attack over remarks and actions by members of the party. The controversy comes just ahead of the country celebrating its 80th Independence Day, and the backlash has forced Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to get into a damage-control mode.There has been a series of faux pas by Bengal BJP leaders related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, one of India's most celebrated freedom fighters, the leader of Azad Hind Fauj and founder of Forward Bloc. One was a remark by the BJP's state chief Samik Bhattacharya on the members of the Forward Bloc. Then, a BJP MP said "Bose was a war criminal", and the Azad Hind Fauj didn't do much. Then a road in Bankura district, named after Bose, was renamed after Syama Prasad Mokkerjee, a founding member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP's predecessor.These remarks and actions have been highly criticised, with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, which is now in the Opposition, attacking the BJP, saying that the "insult to Netaji" was unacceptable.Mamata Banerjee protested next to a statue of Netaji in Kolkata's Shyambazar after BJP MP Nagendra Roy described Netaji as a "war criminal", questioned his leadership and the role of the Azad Hind Fauj in India's freedom struggle. Not just the Opposition, even BJP leaders (including Bengal ministers) have criticised the MP's statement. Bengal Minister Swapan Dasgupta called the MP a "lunatic person".Subhas Chandra Bose is among the pantheon of freedom fighters celebrated by all Indians. He is worshipped as an icon in most Bengali households. No one can expect to insult Netaji and emerge unscathed in Bengal. Since the BJP swept to power in New Delhi in 2014, it has repeatedly sought to stake claim to Netaji's legacy, but particularly in West Bengal. PM Narendra Modi visited Netaji Bhavan in Kolkata in January 2015, oversaw the declassification of files related to Bose and introduced Parakram Diwas to mark his birth anniversary ahead of the 2021 Assembly Elections in West Bengal. In September 2022, he unveiled a 28-foot granite statue of Bose near New Delhi's India Gate, describing it as a tribute to his contribution to the freedom struggle.In West Bengal, the BJP has for years accused the Congress and the TMC of sidelining Netaji's legacy in favour of that of the Gandhi-Nehru family. In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, the BJP fielded Netaji's grandnephew, Chandra Kumar Bose, from Bhabanipur against Mamata Banerjee.That being said, events in the state now threaten to undermine that carefully cultivated political narrative of the BJP.BJP STATE PRESIDENT ATTACKS NETAJI'S FORWARD BLOCThe controversy first started in July after BJP's West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya launched a verbal fusillade against the Forward Bloc, the political organisation started by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.Speaking at an event commemorating Syama Prasad Mokkerjee, Bhattacharya claimed that members of the Forward Bloc, whom he described as "goons", had attacked Mookerjee while he was addressing a gathering in the city's Mohammad Ali Park during the 1940 Calcutta Municipal Corporation election, reported The Hindu newspaper."Syama Prasad Mookerjee was delivering a speech at Mohammad Ali Park when Forward Bloc goons pelted stones at him, leaving him bleeding. Had Mookerjee made any statement to incite the crowd, Forward Bloc members wouldn't have survived that day. Instead, he pacified the crowd while bleeding and urged people to give a befitting reply through the ballot," Bhattacharya was quoted as saying at the July 6 event.Bhattacharya, then, doubled down on his stance after he faced criticism from Forward Bloc members. At a separate event on July 7, Bhattacharya said that the historical attackers of Mookerjee were indeed "goons", and that the party's top brass had ignored appeals from Mookerjee to address alleged communal violence taking place in Bengal in the 1930s."When Hindus were being tortured in [present-day] Bangladesh between 1937 and 1939, Syama Prasad approached Subhas Chandra Bose and Sarat Bose, requesting them to raise their voices and issue statements to protect them. Neither listened to Mookerjee," Bhattacharya claimed.Samik Bhattacharya's remarks were slammed by members of the Forward Bloc. "It is a historically distorted statement," the party’s national general secretary G Devarajan told The Times of India. He added, "It is a historical fact that during the 1940 Calcutta Municipal Corporation election, Syama Prasad tried to mobilise support by appealing to communal sentiments", while demanding Bhattacharya retract his remarks.All things considered, though, the BJP State President's verbal barrage was primarily directed at the Forward Bloc, a political party which, while founded by Netaji, is now part of the CPI(M)-led Left Front alliance, the BJP's principal ideological rivals in West Bengal.However, one of Samik's party colleagues would cross a bridge too far, attacking Netaji directly.BJP RAJYA SABHA MP QUESTIONED NETAJI'S ROLE IN INDIAN INDEPENDENCESamik Bhattacharya stuck to attacking the Forward Bloc, but the BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Nagen Roy (better known as Ananata Maharaj) described Netaji as being a "war criminal", and questioned the contribution of his Indian National Army (INA) in the country's freedom struggle, reported news agency PTI.Roy, who describes himself as the "Maharaja of Cooch Behar", is an influential leader within West Bengal's Rajbanshi community and has repeatedly called for the establishment of a separate Cooch Behar State. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP in 2023.Speaking at an event on July 18, Roy credited the former Cooch Behar royal family, rather than the mainstream nationalist movement, with India's Independence, while questioning the role of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, reported PTI.He then directly questioned Netaji's role in establishing and leading the INA, claiming its soldiers were originally members of the British Indian Army who had been captured by the Germans."Did Netaji's father have any power? Or was he himself forming the Azad Hind Fauj? They were all actually Indian soldiers in the British Army. The Germans captured those British soldiers and later handed them over to Netaji. Netaji grossly misused that opportunity," Roy was quoted as saying by Aaj Tak Bangla.Roy also questioned why INA soldiers had not been executed for taking up arms against the British."Our ancestors never punished any member of the Azad Hind Fauj. If anyone takes up arms against the government today, they will have to face me. Even under British rule, there were strict rules and regulations. So why did the Azad Hind Fauj take up arms against the British? Why were they not given the death penalty then?" Aaj Tak Bangla reported Roy as saying.BJP MP's REMARKS ON BOSE TRIGGERS A STORM. BJP LEADERS, TMC SLAM ROYNagen Roy's comments sparked a political firestorm in West Bengal, with several leaders, including from the BJP, expressing their displeasure.In a post on X, BJP national executive member and former Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy stated, "I had never heard of this self-proclaimed Maharaja before. He has been brought into politics with the intention of driving a wedge between Bengalis and the Rajbangshi community."Roy further said, "These vulgar and indecent comments about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose are part of this deeper conspiracy. I am confident that the BJP's central leadership is aware of this serious situation and will have a strategy in place to deal with this Rajya Sabha MP."Meanwhile, North Bengal Development Minister Nishit Pramanik also distanced himself from the MP's statement. "I absolutely do not understand why Ananta Maharaj made such a statement. I personally cannot support his statement. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is one of our country's greatest freedom fighters and holds the highest place," Pramanik was quoted as saying by Aaj Tak Bangla.Similarly, Bengal Finance Minister, Swapan Dasgupta, dismissed Roy's remarks. "There's a lunatic person who claims to be from the BJP, who has been saying all sorts of peculiar things. The man’s knowledge of history is worse than my knowledge of nuclear physics," Dasgupta was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.Nagen Roy's remarks also handed a rare opening to Mamata Banerjee's TMC. The TMC took out a protest march in Kolkata on Saturday, that saw Mamata Banerjee garland the statue of Netaji at Shyambazar's five-point crossing."We condemn those who insult Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda every day, every moment. So, to protest against this disrespect, I have come here to garland Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose," Mamata said. She added, "We call Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose a national hero. And the BJP people are abusing and disrespecting the name of Subhas Chandra Bose. We condemn them".NETAJI OUT, SYAMA PRASAD MOOKERJEE IN AT BIRBHUMAnother Netaji-related controversy erupted after a road named Netaji Subhash Road in Rampurhat city in Birbhum district, was changed to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Road in the presence of a BJP MLA, reported the Kolkata-based daily, Anandabazar Patrika on Wednesday.According to the report, a saffron-coloured plaque with Mookerjee's name printed on it, was installed along the three kilometer-long road, with Rampurhat BJP MLA Dhruv Saha being present at its inauguration.Anandabazar Patrika, citing municipal sources, reported that the BJP had submitted an application seeking to rename the road from Netaji to Mookerjee. However, Rampurhat Municipality Chairperson Soumen Bhakat told the paper that the civic body had not approved the renaming.MLA Dhruv Saha, defended the move in the face of criticism from local CPI(M) and Congress leaders. He said, "Netaji resides in our hearts. We hold him in high regard. We will not accept lectures from the CPI (M)—a party that insulted Netaji, both while he was alive and after his death."He also claimed that the Rampurhat Municipality had no records showing that the road was officially named after Netaji. However, even after the new plaque was installed, Anandabazar Patrika reported that shops and government cooperative boards along the road continued to bear the name "Netaji Subhash Road".BENGAL BJP GOES INTO DAMAGE-CONTROL MODEFacing flak from across West Bengal over a series of remarks and actions involving Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the BJP has been compelled to move into damage-control mode. Responding to BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ananta Maharaj's comments questioning Netaji's role in the freedom struggle, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari stated on Wednesday that "law and order is equal for everyone" and that "no one would be spared."Adhikari said the BJP did not support derogatory remarks against Netaji and insisted that the same action would be taken against anyone making such comments elsewhere in the country. "In West Bengal you cannot make derogatory comments against freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. We do not support this and, in our state, we will not allow this," he said.Seeking to reinforce the BJP's own efforts to honour Netaji, Adhikari added that every MLA Seva Kendra would be named after Netaji, while pointing to the Narendra Modi government's installation of Netaji's statute at Delhi's Kartavya Path in 2022. "Our PM has installed the statue of Netaji at Kartavya Path of Delhi," he said.The BJP-led government also moved to punish Nagendranath Roy over his remarks.On Wednesday, the West Bengal government withdrew the Banga Bibhushan title conferred on Roy, a Rajya Sabha MP. Roy had received the state's highest civilian honour from the then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in February, shortly before the Assembly elections.In any case, the BJP in West Bengal now finds itself walking a tightrope. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose remains one of the state's most revered figures, alongside icons such as Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and Satyajit Ray. The BJP has repeatedly sought to position itself as the party that truly honours Netaji's legacy, but remarks such as the ones by Nagendra Roy and Shamik Bhattacharya, risk undermining that narrative and handing the opposition ammunition.- EndsPublished By: Shounak SanyalPublished On: Aug 14, 2026 12:37 IST