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On eve of PM Modi’s visit, TMC, BJP face-off in Bengal over Netaji’s birthday
Despite the TMC and the Left parties’ demand that January 23 be declared a national holiday and designated after the names they had chosen, the Modi government declared on January 19 that the day will be celebrated as Parakram Diwas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kolkata on January 23 to celebrate Subhash Chandra Bose’s birthday as Parakram Diwas, or day of valour, is intended to woo Bengal’s voters before the crucial assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said on Thursday while the state government announced that it will celebrate the day as Desh Nayak Diwas, or day of the national hero.
The Bengal government also appealed to people through televised advertisements to blow conch shells at 12.15 pm, the time of Bose’s birth in 1897. Both the Centre and the state have decided to organise various programmes till Bose’s 125th birthday next year.
The Forward Bloc, which Bose formed in 1939, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on the other hand said they would celebrate January 23 as Desh Prem Diwas, or day of patriotism, as declared by the erstwhile Left Front government in 2010.
Despite the TMC and the Left parties’ demand that January 23 be declared a national holiday and designated after the names they had chosen, the Modi government declared on January 19 that the day will be celebrated as Parakram Diwas but remained silent on the demand for declaration of a national holiday.
This is the first time since the BJP came to power at the Centre that PM Modi will be celebrating the iconic freedom fighter’s birthday in Kolkata. He will attend two programmes, at the National Library and the Victoria Memorial Hall, during his day-long visit.
“This is a publicity stunt and politically motivated. The BJP is utterly confused. It is worshipping Gandhi as well as his killer (Nathuram Godse). It is worshipping Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who wanted to ban the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Is the BJP even aware that its founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee opposed every move of Subhash Chandra Bose? It is only to woo Bengal’s voters that the BJP is praising Rammohan Roy, Vidyasagar and other legendary figures,” said Bengal’s deputy parliamentary affairs minister Tapas Roy.
BJP state vice-president Ritesh Tiwari criticised the TMC for being narrow-minded.
“It is the Modi government that gave proper recognition to the Azad Hind movement that Netaji (as Bose is popularly known) had begun. Nobody did it in decades. It celebrated Gandhi Jayanti amid nationwide fanfare in 2019. Mamata Banerjee should remember that the Congress, to which she originally belonged, was led by Jawaharlal Nehru, who never recognised Bose’s sacrifice and patriotism,” said Ritesh Tiwari.
TMC leaders said they had no information whether the chief minister would attend the Prime Minister’s programmes on Saturday although she has been invited.
