Mukherjee pays tribute to Netaji at Rashtrapati Bhavan

President Pranab Mukherjee paid floral tributes before a portrait of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on the occasion of his 118th birth anniversary at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid tributes to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

He took to Twitter to express his gratitude for the contributions of this phenomenal freedom fighter.

"His bravery, courage and patriotic zeal inspire us. On his birth anniversary , I bow to the proud son of India, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose," PM Modi tweeted.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 and reportedly died on August 18, 1945.

He was an Indian nationalist who attempted to rid India of British rule during the second world war with the help of Nazi Germany and Japan, leaving behind a left a troubled legacy.

In the early part of his political life, Bose was the leader of the younger and radical, wing of the Indian National Congress in the late 1920s and 1930s, and rose to become Congress President in 1938 and 1939.

He was, however, ousted from Congress leadership positions in 1939 following differences with Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress high command, and was subsequently placed under house arrest by the British before escaping from India in 1940.]

Bose thereafter formed the Azad Hind Fauj or Indian National Army with the help of funds from Germany and also established a Free India Centre and Free India Radio in Berlin.

He was married to Emilie Schenkl and had a daughter.

With Japanese support, Bose revamped the INA, then composed of Indian soldiers of the British Indian army who had been captured in the Battle of Singapore. To this were added Indian civilians in Malaya and Singapore.

He is said to have died of third degree burns received when his plane crashed in Taiwan.