Bengal BJP's Netaji Row Deepens as Remarks, Road Renaming Trigger Political Storm

The controversy began in July after BJP's West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya launched a verbal attack on the Forward Bloc, the political organisation founded by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Speaking at an event commemorating Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Bhattacharya claimed that members of the Forward Bloc, whom he described as "goons", had attacked Mookerjee while he was addressing a gathering at Mohammad Ali Park during the 1940 Calcutta Municipal Corporation election, reported The Hindu.

"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 doubled down on his position after facing criticism from Forward Bloc members. At a separate event on July 7, he said that the historical attackers of Mookerjee were indeed "goons" and claimed that the party's top brass had ignored appeals from Mookerjee.

"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.

The remarks were slammed by Forward Bloc members. "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 that Bhattacharya retract his remarks.

Bhattacharya's remarks were primarily directed at the Forward Bloc, a political party founded by Netaji that is now part of the CPI(M)-led Left Front alliance, the BJP's principal ideological rivals in West Bengal.

The controversy escalated when BJP Rajya Sabha MP Nagen Roy, better known as Ananata Maharaj, directly questioned Netaji's role in India's freedom struggle.

Roy described Netaji as a "war criminal" and questioned the contribution of his Indian National Army (INA) to 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 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.

Roy's comments triggered a political firestorm in West Bengal, with several leaders, including BJP leaders, 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."

Tathagata 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."

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.

The controversy also gave Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress an opening to attack the BJP. The TMC took out a protest march in Kolkata on Saturday, during which Mamata Banerjee garlanded 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".

Another controversy emerged in Birbhum district after a road named Netaji Subhash Road in Rampurhat city was changed to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Road in the presence of BJP MLA Dhruv Saha, reported the Kolkata-based daily Anandabazar Patrika on Wednesday.

According to the report, a saffron-coloured plaque bearing Mookerjee's name was installed along the three-kilometre-long road, with Rampurhat BJP MLA Dhruv Saha 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 amid criticism from local CPI(M) and Congress leaders.

"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 said.

Saha 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".

The developments have forced the Bengal BJP into damage-control mode as criticism mounted across West Bengal over the series of remarks and actions involving Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

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 statue 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.

The controversy is particularly significant because Subhas Chandra Bose is among the pantheon of freedom fighters celebrated by Indians and remains an icon in most Bengali households. The TMC, now in the Opposition, has attacked 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.

The BJP itself has for years sought to claim Netaji's legacy, particularly in West Bengal. Since the BJP swept to power in New Delhi in 2014, it has repeatedly sought to position itself as a party that honours Bose's contribution.

Prime Minister 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, Modi 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.

The latest remarks and actions have put that political narrative under strain. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose remains one of West Bengal's most revered figures, alongside icons such as Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and Satyajit Ray.

The BJP in West Bengal now finds itself walking a tightrope as criticism over the remarks by Nagendra Roy and Shamik Bhattacharya risks undermining its efforts to position itself as the party that truly honours Netaji's legacy and gives the opposition political ammunition.