Grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose parts ways with BJP over vision differences

Chandra Bose, the grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, announced his resignation on Wednesday from the BJP. He cited the party's failure to uphold the vision of the nationalist leader as the reason for his departure. Bose had joined the BJP in 2016 and had twice contested elections as a BJP candidate, first in the 2016 assembly elections and later in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"When I joined BJP I was promised that I would be allowed to propagate the inclusive ideology of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sarat Chandra Bose. But nothing of that sort happened," Chandra Bose said.

Chandra Bose mentioned in his resignation letter to BJP chief JP Nadda, "My discussions (with BJP) then centered on the inclusive ideology of the Bose Brothers (Netaji and his elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose, also a freedom fighter). My understanding, both then and later, had been that I would propagate this ideology across the country on the BJP Platform. It was also decided to form an Azad Hind Morcha within the framework of BJP with the primary objective to propagate Netaj's ideology of uniting all communities as Bharatiyas, irrespective of religion, caste and creed."

Bose, who was appointed vice-president of the West Bengal BJP in 2016, lost his post as a result of organisational changes made in 2020.

Chandra Bose had been critical of the state BJP leadership on several issues and had publicly opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019, a stance that diverged from the party's ideology. BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya responded to Bose's resignation by stating that "For quite a long time he was not at all in touch with the party."