Why was Congress paranoid about Netaji Bose and his family?

Why was the government of India so paranoid about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and members of his family? While the files which were de-classified recently at West Bengal give enough fodder to discuss whether Netaji had died in 1945 or not, the important aspect is the extent of snooping on the family members of Bose.

Snooping was at an unprecedented high on Sarath Chandra Bose, the brother of Netaji. Sarath Bose was considered to be the brain behind Netaji and in West Bengal alone there are 1,824 files relating to him.

What one can gather from the de-classified files is that the ruling Congress was paranoid about Sarath Chandra Bose and he was looking to set up an anti-Congress platform across the nation.

An anti-Congress platform

It becomes clear that the Congress government which had ordered the snooping into the activities of Netaji and his family members were scared of something.

The files clearly state that Sarath Chandra Bose wanted to set up a massive platform which would be anti-Congress. The Congress did everything to ensure that these plans failed and hence continued to snoop on every little activity relating to Bose and his family members.

With Netaji out of India, it was Sarath Bose who continued with his activities in India.

One of the files de-classified speaks about Sarath Bose's resounding victory in the South Calcutta by-polls. This was viewed as a major threat as it tested the popularity of Sarath Bose. It also made it clear that Sarath Bose who was anti-Congress was all set to lead a tirade against the ruling party.

Further it was also revealed that Sarath Bose had already planned a major programme to set up as many anti-Congress programmes across the country. He had started getting invitations to attend anti-Nehru programmes.

The power behind Netaji

Sarath Bose was always considered to be the power behind Netaji. The government of India and West Bengal was well aware of this and hence decided to snoop heavily on him to check his every move.

His movements were also being checked in the pre-independence era and even the British described him as the power behind Netaji Bose and also the most dangerous opponent of the government.

He was followed by sleuths of the Intelligence Bureau in Kolkata and even during his visits to Mumbai, the files have revealed. While he was being snooped upon in the pre-independent era, the surveillance on him increased after independence.

Files remotely indicate that the government was extremely paranoid about Sarath Bose. They saw him as the biggest danger to the ruling Congress. However the plans to set up a major anti-Congress platform failed to materialize owing to Sarath Bose's death in 1950.