Netaji decision taken with election in mind: Political parties

Kolkata, Oct 17: Political parties in West Bengal have said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to declassify Netaji files from January 23, next year is an attempt to hijack the legacy of Bose by cashing in on the emotions revolving around him.

Opposition parties, including the Congress and the CPI(M), have also accused the Prime Minister of taking the decision with an eye on the next year's Assembly poll in the state, a charge denied by the BJP.

While the ruling Trinamool Congress felt the matter was being "politicised" and "stretched", CPI(M) politburo member Mohammed Salim said Modi was trying to grab space occupied by Netaji in the hearts of people as the RSS-BJP did not have any contribution to India's Independence struggle.

"We have been demanding for long that the files be declassified. Why didn't they declassify them for the last one and a half years? The main agenda behind the decison to declassify files is to cash in on the sentiments and emotions of people surrounding Netaji before the 2016 Assembly polls," Salim told PTI.

"The RSS-BJP does not have any contribution towards India's Independence struggle. So they need an icon from the struggle and that is why they are trying to hijcak Netaji's legacy. But they should know that the ideals of Netaji do not go along with the communal ideology of RSS," Salim observed.

Bowing to a long-standing demand, the Prime Minister on October 14 announced that the government would start unveiling secret files on Bose from January 23 next year, raising hopes about solving the seven-decade-old mystery about his disappearance.

Modi also promised to write and personally take up with foreign governments the issue of declassifying their own files on Bose beginning with Russia in December. Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi said if Modi was so serious about declassifying the files, he would have done it as soon as he assumed power. "If they were so serious about declassification of Netaji files, they could have done that after coming to power in 2014," Alvi said.

PTI