Mamata declassified Netaji files for political mileage: Opposition

Kolkata, Sept 19: Claiming that the declassified files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose did not have anything significant, opposition parties in West Bengal on Saturday said "political mileage" was the motive behind the ruling Trinamool Congress making public 64 secret files on the revolutionary leader.

The Mamata Banerjee government on Friday put in public domain 64 files running into 12,744 pages in the presence of Netaji's family members, who have been steadfastly campaigning for the declassification of the files to unravel the mystery surrounding his sudden disappearance 70 years ago.

Speaking at the declassification event at the city police museum here, Banerjee on Friday called upon the Centre to follow suit and publicise secret documents.

"She (Banerjee) has been making such a hue and cry over the issue but I cannot fathom what new discovery she had made," Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra said here on Saturday.

"The contents of the (declassified) files are not of any great importance. There is nothing in these files. Their declassification does not make any difference," added the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary.

Even as he welcomed the decision, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Rahul Sinha said the Trinamool declassified the files with an eye on the 2016 assembly polls.

"The demand for the declassification has been long standing. Why did the chief minister suddenly wake up to the issue when the assembly polls are just months away?

"The Trinamool is politically bankrupt and is desperately trying to use the declassification issue to gain political mileage," said Sinha.

Sinha asserted that the Narendra Modi government at the centre will also declassify the files on Netaji soon.

"There has been some delay as the files contain sensitive information and declassifying them may adverse affect our relations with foreign countries. The decision cannot be taken in haste, but they will surely be declassified," added Sinha.

Nearly 130 classified files on Netaji are claimed to be in the possession of various central government departments including the Prime Minister's Office.

IANS