An association of seven years and some with the BJP came to an end for Chandra Kumar Bose, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s grand nephew and former vice president of the party’s Bengal unit, who quit on Wednesday on grounds of “unbridgeable ideological differences”.

“I had joined the BJP in 2016 inspired by the leadershíp and expansive development programme of Shri Narendra Modi ji. My discussions then centred on the inclusive ideology of the Bose Brothers. My understanding, both then and later, has been that I would propagate this ideology across the nation on a 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. This according to me is essential to keep our country united and for inclusive progress cutting across all communities,” Bose’s resignation letter, addressed to the party president JP Nadda and copy marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, read.

“My own ardent promotional efforts to achieve these laudable objectives have not received any support from the BJP, either at the Centre or at the state level in West Bengal. I had put forward a detailed proposal suggesting a Bengal Strategy to reach out to the people of Bengal. My proposals were ignored. Given these unfortunate circumstances, it has become impossible for me to continue in all conscience as a member of the BJP,” Bose went on to state.

Bose joined the BJP ahead of the 2016 state elections at a party rally in Howrah where he accepted the saffron flag from the BJP’s then-president Amit Shah. Bose later went on to contest the 2016 Assembly polls from the Bhowanipore seat in South Calcutta where he took on the incumbent Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and in 2019 fought the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat against Trinamul’s Mala Roy. Both seats are considered Trinamul bastion.

While in 2016, Bose finished third behind Banerjee and Congress’s Deepa Dasmunshi garnering a little over 19 per cent votes, his performance three years later was far more impressive where he managed to amass nearly 35 per cent votes for himself, finishing second. Bose was also appointed the party’s state vice president from where he resigned in January 2020 after falling out with the state leadership over nitty gritties on provisions of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“I have chosen to take this critical step on a significant date for the Bose family which is the 134th birth anniversary of my grandfather Sarat Chandra Bose, the elder brother, mentor and comrade-in-arms of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The Bose Brothers, Sarat and Subhas Bose, as they are popularly called, stood for an inclusive and secular ideology for independent India,” Bose stated in his parting note.

Talking to The Telegraph Online, Bose said: “I appreciate the Centre’s efforts to bring Netaji to the forefront by putting up his statue in Delhi and setting up a museum in his name. But those are only superficial acts. The main job, to take active steps in spreading the leader’s inclusive and secular ideology to unite the nation, remained untouched.”

“What’s happening in the country now is the polar opposite to what Netaji believed. The stage seems set to divide India,” he added.

Although Bose expressed his intentions to stay put in the domain of active politics, he stopped short of naming the party he intended to join. “I am open to joining any party which will work for an inclusive and secular ideology. The platform I join would also have to provide me an opportunity to work for the people where I can carry forward the legacies of Subhas and Sarat Bose,” he said.

The party’s state leadership, though, dismissed Bose’s resignation as “irrelevant”. Playing on the estranged leader’s name, state BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya called the leader Rahugrastha Chandra (an eclipsed moon). “At a time when the nation is talking about Chandrayaan, you are asking questions about Chandra Bose who is an eclipsed moon. We have not been having any ties with him for a long time. He was absent from the party’s scheme of things despite formally being a member. Now he will be absent without membership. It’s all the same for us,” Bhattacharya said.