Has BJP been able to own Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s legacy?

Exactly a year ago, on January 23, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Subhas Chandra Bose museum at Red Fort. This was to mark the 122nd birth anniversary of Bose, aka ‘Netaji’ as he is popularly called.

Days later, the Republic Day parade in New Delhi witnessed veterans of Bose's Indian National Army (INA) participating in it.

PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has time and again attacked the Indian National Congress of ignoring and side-lining icons from the independence struggle such as Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and BR Ambedkar.

Bose’s association with the Congress ended bitterly when he was ousted from the party’s leadership, following differences with Mahatma Gandhi and other senior leaders.

In the last five years, the BJP has actively given more attention to Bose. Observers suggest that the BJP has been trying to appropriate Bose’s legacy.

Speaking to party workers via video conference in 2018, PM Modi had said: “History is witness to the fact that they (Congress) had only disrespect for Sardar Patel in their minds. The same happened with Netaji, Acharya (JB) Kripalani and BR Ambedkar. This list is so long, that I will need the entire night to complete.”

“I am honoured to participate in the programme. I know some people will criticize it. Let them do it. Everyone is aware how Netaji gave a challenge to British rulers when he formed his Azad Hind force. One party had ruled Indian for more than 70 years, but it did not bother to make the files public,” PM Modi added.

On January 23, 2016, the Centre had declassified the first set of 100 files pertaining to Bose. This came after PM Modi met Bose’s family members. The National Archives of India placed the documents in the public domain after digitisation. Declassification of the files was a long standing demand of those seeking to know more about the circumstances of Bose’s demise.

In October 2018, PM Modi joined INA veterans in hoisting the national flag at the Red Fort to mark the 75th anniversary of the ‘Azad Hind government’ which was headed by Bose.

The same year, the Centre announced the renaming of three islands of Andaman and Nicobar archipelago as a tribute to Bose. The Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, the Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep and the Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep

It was reportedly Bose’s suggestion in 1943 to rename Andaman and Nicobar Islands as Shahid and Swaraj Dweep respectively.

Bose’s grandnephew, Chandra Kumar Bose, is a member of BJP and is the vice president of its West Bengal unit. Chandra Kumar Bose is the grandson of Sarat Chandra Bose, an independence activist and Congress leader.

Chandra Kumar Bose’s father Amiyanath Bose was a Forward Bloc Member of Parliament (MP) from Arambagh in West Bengal.

In the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Chandra Kumar Bose contested from the Bhabanipur Vidhan Sabha constituency on a BJP ticket against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Kolkata Dakshin constituency but lost to a Trinamool Congress candidate. Through all this, he has emerged as a popular face of the Bengal BJP unit.

Bose’s legacy and Bengal politics

Subhas Chandra Bose remains one of the greatest icons to emerge from Bengal. This makes it even more important for the BJP to have a piece of his legacy in a state where it has not been a strong force traditionally.

But, many within West Bengal’s ruling party now believe that their key opponent now is the BJP, not the traditional rival Left Front.

The saffron party has been growing its grassroots-level base in the state by trying to implement its tried-and-tested ‘panna pramukhs’ system in West Bengal. It has been systematically making in-roads into the state.

TMC won 22 out of the West Bengal’s 42 parliamentary seats, down from the 34 it had won in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP, which had earlier maintained a marginal presence in the state, registered a stunning rise from two seats in 2014 to 18 in 2019.

Trinamool’s vote share grew from 39.8 percent to 43.3 percent between 2014 and 2019. However, BJP’s vote share jumped from 17 percent to 40.3 percent during the same period. The BJP share came largely at the expense of the Left and Congress votes.

The state will head for assembly election in 2021 and many in the BJP state unit have expressed confidence over their chances. Trinamool Congress has also taken note and started taking necessary action such as roping in political strategist Prashant Kishor to help it with the campaign.

However, it remains unclear if the BJP has successfully taken over Bose’s legacy and it will help them politically in the years to come, especially in Bengal.