Scramble begins to appropriate Netaji’s legacy ahead of Bengal polls

As the nation observed the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on Saturday, there were competing claims to the rich legacy of one of Bengal’s tallest icons. With the state elections just around the corner, netas tried to pull out all the stops to appropriate the freedom fighter for their narrow ends.

For starters, competing political jockeying ensured that there was no consensus even on the title of the day’s event. If the BJP unilaterally called it Parakram Diwas (day of valour), the Trinamool Congress named the day after Rabindranath Tagore’s eulogy of Netaji as a Desh Nayak (national hero).

While PM Narendra Modi said his government was walking in the footsteps of Netaji to realise his dream of a secure and self-reliant India, leading a long foot march was CM Mamata Banerjee’s way of commemorating the anniversary. When Modi and Mamata shared the dais during the day’s main celebrations organised by the Centre on the forecourt of the Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata, the latter’s unease was clearly visible.

And her heckling by a section of the audience with Jai Shri Ram slogans when her turn came to speak was an affront. Mamata called out the insult and opted not to deliver her address. The BJP made its first big attempt to stake its claim to his legacy during Modi 1.0 by declassifying loads of documents on his mysterious past. The party’s appetite for appropriating national icons is voracious.

From Congress luminaries like Sardar Patel and Gandhiji to reformists like B R Ambedkar and revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Veer Savarkar, the BJP has sought out at least one in each state who personifies its definition of robust nationalism to increase its popular acceptability. With the Congress entirely missing in action, only time can tell which way Netaji’s goodwill could swing.

Finally, what does one make of Mamata’s proposal to develop four national capitals—one each in the East, West, North and South—and four parliaments functioning in rotation instead of one? It’s typically Tughlaqian. Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s decision last year to have three state capitals instead of just Amaravati made much more economic and political sense than Didi’s idea.