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Before the West Bengal Assembly elections, political activity has intensified. In this sequence, on Sunday, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s great grandson Chandra Bose joined Trinamool Congress (TMC). This development is also important because before this, Chandra Bose was in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and he had contested against the current Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Bhawanipur seat on BJP ticket in the 2016 assembly elections. He had to be defeated in that election. Now switching sides and joining TMC just before the Bengal elections is being considered a blow to the BJP.

Bhawanipur Assembly seat is one of the most high-profile seats in Bengal. This time also Mamata Banerjee is contesting from this seat, and BJP has fielded Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari against her. This seat is considered to be a close contest this time, hence Chandra Bose’s entry into TMC is being seen as an attempt to create psychological pressure. Trinamool Congress has adopted a strategy to put pressure on the opposition camp by including a former BJP candidate in its party.

The program of Chandra Bose joining TMC took place in the TMC office. Senior TMC leader and former cricketer Kirti Azad and minister Bratya Basu were also present on the occasion. In his presence Chandra Bose formally joined Trinamool Congress.

I made a mistake by joining BJP- Chandra Bose

On the occasion of joining TMC, Chandra Bose spoke openly on his earlier decision. He said, “I made a mistake by joining BJP, so I rectified it today.” Making a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, he said that BJP works against the Constitution of the country. On his experience of contesting elections as a BJP candidate from Bhawanipur in 2016, he said, “I was the BJP candidate in Bhawanipur. I could not win. No one can win now. Mamata Banerjee will win there.” His statement indicates the strong position of Mamata Banerjee on Bhawanipur seat.

Chandra Bose explained in detail the reasons for his separation from BJP. He said that Bharatiya Janata Party does not believe in the principles of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He expressed his inability to work as per Netaji’s thinking while in BJP, because the party did not allow him to do so. He said that the ideology and functioning of BJP was completely opposite to the ideals of Netaji, due to which he was feeling suffocated within the party.

Chandra Bose accused BJP

He also accused BJP of not understanding the history and culture of Bengal. According to Chandra Bose, BJP’s thinking does not match with the glorious heritage and culture of Bengal. After joining BJP in 2016, he realized that the party opposes the Constitution of India, which was not acceptable to him. Chandra Bose stressed that all-religious coordination is India’s heritage, but BJP practices politics of religion and communalism, which threatens the unity and integrity of the country.

BJP did not provide a platform to carry forward Netaji’s principles – Chandra Bose

Chandra Bose reminded his old words that at the time of joining BJP, he had said that he would work according to the ideals of Netaji, but he could not do so while staying within the party. He expressed disappointment that the BJP did not give him a platform to carry forward Netaji’s principles, but did the opposite. For this reason he felt that he was not able to do justice to his ideals.

Commenting on the current political situation, Chandra Bose said that the time has come to fight against the kind of politics going on not only in Bengal but in the entire country. He described India as going through a crisis and called upon everyone to face this challenge unitedly. His statement is being seen as a broad criticism on the policies of BJP and by joining TMC he has decided his role in this fight.

This step of Chandra Bose has come just before the West Bengal elections, which has brought a new twist in the politics of the state. With this change, while TMC has got the support of a reputed name, BJP is facing sharp attacks from a former member who was once in their own camp. It will be interesting to see what effect this defection has in the upcoming elections.