The Mamata Banerjee government has decided to launch three new bus services from two different locations in the state and lay the foundation stone of a new bus terminus in Nadia’s Krishnagar as a tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary.

The decision of the state government comes ahead of the Assembly polls in Bengal and at a time when political parties, mainly the BJP and the Trinamul, are trying to

appropriate the legacy of Netaji, whose birth anniversary would be observed on Saturday.

The Centre has decided to celebrate Netaji’s birth anniversary as ‘Parakram Diwas’, a move that has drawn criticism from the Left and Trinamul that had long demanded the day to be observed as Deshprem Divas.

The Bengal government-run South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) has come forward to dedicate three new bus services between Siliguri and Mayapur, Tollygunj and Tarapith and Tollygunj and Jhargram on January 23 in Netaji’s memory, apart from laying the foundation stone of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Bus Terminus in Krishnagar.

The foundation stone of the proposed new terminus in Krishnagar will be laid by state correctional home services minister Ujjwal Biswas.

A statue of Netaji will also be installed at the site of the bus stand during the programme. The statue will be unveiled by Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra.

“The Siliguri-Mayapur bus service has been named as Netaji Express, the Tollygunj-Tarapith bus service will be known as Azad Hind Express and Joy Hind Express will be the name of the Tollygunj-Jhargram bus service,” said Godala Kiran Kumar, SBSTC managing director, and added it would be a fitting tribute to the iconic leader and freedom fighter.