Centre yet to announce holiday for Netaji: Didi

She attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre for not keeping its promise of investigating Netaji’s disappearance

These days holidays are declared for “political campaigns” but not for those who fought and sacrificed their lives for the country, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on the occasion of 127th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on Tuesday.

Mamata Banerjee’s remarks were seen as an apparent reference to the Centre declaring a half-day holiday in central government offices and institutions on Monday to celebrate the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple (HT)

Banerjee’s remarks were seen as an apparent reference to the Centre declaring a half-day holiday in central government offices and institutions on Monday to celebrate the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Several opposition leaders had rejected invitation to the grand inauguration of the Ayodhya temple, claiming it to be a “BJP/RSS event”.

“These days a holiday can be given for a political campaign. However, there is no holiday for those who sacrificed their lives for the country,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief said at the state government’s official event to mark Netaji’s birth anniversary in Kolkata. The freedom fighter’s family members were present on the occasion.

“For 20 years, I tried to make Netaji’s birth anniversary a national holiday but failed. Please forgive me,” she said.

She attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre for not keeping its promise of investigating Netaji’s disappearance. “The country is so unfortunate that we still don’t know that happened to the man who disappeared during his pursuit to show us the right path. It is a matter of shame,” she said. “After we (TMC) came to power, we released 64 classified files that were lying in the (British-era) archives. Before BJP came to power [at Centre], it promised to unravel the mystery. But they forgot Netaji after their job was done.”

Reacting to Banerjee’s remarks, Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, who had appealed to the CM to declare a holiday during the Ram Temple event on Monday, told reporters: “The Centre will decide how January 23 should be observed. But Netaji believed in action. I don’t think he would have asked for a holiday.”