Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s grandnephew, Chandra Kumar Bose, on Sunday slammed the BJP, accusing the party of “dividing communities for vote bank politics”.
Speaking with ANI after joining TMC, Chandra Kumar Bose equated the BJP with British rule, accusing them of bringing religion into politics, a policy that he said was opposed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
“The BJP is against the Constitution because its one-point agenda is to divide and rule, to divide communities for vote bank politics. The British, their policy was divide and rule. The BJP practices the same policies as the British. They bring religion into politics, a policy which was vehemently opposed by my grandfather, Sarat Chandra Bose, and his younger brother, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose,” he said.
“I cannot accept the BJP’s way of thinking… I decided to leave, and I did not immediately join any party… I found that the TMC comes close to following an inclusive and secular ideology,” he added.
Chandra Kumar Bose had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party in September 2023, ending his nine years of association with the party, citing ideological differences.
Bose exuded confidence in the Trinamool Congress victory in the West Bengal election.
“We are having the state elections in Bengal. The TMC will definitely come out victorious… TMC has a much greater responsibility to unite the nation… all like-minded parties should unite to implement the concept of being a ‘Bharatiya’; only then will we survive… I’m not an astrologer, but definitely, Mamata Banerjee would be victorious,” he said.
West Bengal is set for two phases of assembly polls on April 23 and 29, with the results set for May 4.
The upcoming elections follow the 2021 battle, where the TMC secured a landslide 213 seats. However, the BJP’s growth from a minor player to 77 seats in the last cycle has set the stage for the current high-stakes confrontation.
