Amid the political noise in poll-bound Bengal on the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, a family in a Bankura village, 205km away from Calcutta, quietly showed their love for the icon by worshipping a chair Netaji had sat on, nearly 81 years ago.

The patriarch of Deshuriya village’s Karmakar family, Niranjan Karmakar, 88, had, as an eight-year-old boy laid eyes on Netaji in April 1940. Netaji had come to Gangajalghati near Deshuriya for an event.

“A sofa had been laid out for Netaji but he pulled up a humble wooden chair, which my father (village physician Ramrup Karmakar) had carried along with him to help with seating arrangements, and sat on it. As far as I recall, my father had bought the chair from Raniganj,” recalled the octogenarian on Saturday, a day that saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi flying down to Calcutta to pay tribute to the late freedom fighter.

“Since then, my father said no one should sit on this chair, and it was put in our thakurghar (puja room). We worship it along with Netaji’s portrait,” said Niranjan, a retired government contractor.

This year, Netaji’s birth anniversary has become a point of contention, with the Centre naming it Parakram Divas and the state, Deshnayak Divas.

Far from all this, residents of this village paid their intimate tribute to Netaji at the Karmakar home and the local club.

The story of the chair came to light on Saturday when Bankura University used the virtual platform to share this unique tribute to Netaji. “We came to know about this family and sent a student to video-record the chair and this tribute and share it virtually. It is very interesting,” said Kaushik Ghosh, who teaches political science at the varsity.

In this tiny village, Netaji’s legend lives on from generation to generation. “I’ve heard how people here offered money and ornaments to Netaji for his Azad Hind Fauj,” said Prashanta Karmakar, now 50, Ramrup’s grandson.