Netaji grand-nephew Chandra Bose joins BJP, calls Congress 'most communal'

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand-nephew Chandra Kumar Bose on Monday joined the BJP, calling it the only party which pursues politics of nationalism and believes in Netaji's ideals of inclusivity and communal harmony, while dubbing the Congress the "most communal" party.

The 55-year-old Bose, grandson of Netaji's elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose, formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of its president Amit Shah at a public rally here.

Shah handed over the BJP flag to Bose amid cries of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and tumultuous applause from the crowd.

Bose, who studied Economics at Hendon College, London, pitched his lot with the BJP two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declassified 100 files related to Netaji on January 23.

Later, he said the perception of the BJP as communal was a "misconception".

"The BJP is the only party in the country which pursues politics of nationalism and believes in Netaji's ideals of inclusivity and communal harmony. And joining hands with the BJP, my job will be to bring these ideals into mainstream," Bose told IANS.

He dubbed the Congress the "most communal" party.

"It's a misconception that the BJP is communal, the most communal party is the Congress.

"It's the Congress which has all these years followed communal politics and politics of suppression. It has engineered the partition, the Bhagalpur riots (1989), the Sikh riots (1984), etc."

Asked why he did not join the All India Forward Bloc founded by Netaji, Bose said: "It has moved away from the ideals of Netaji and ruined Bengal for 34 years by joining hands with the CPI-M. It did nothing for declassifying the files."

"In fact, the Communist Party of India-Marxist has been supporting the Congress which has obliterated Netaji's contribution to the country from text books and distorted history," he said.

"The Bose family can't be involved with any party which has got to do anything with the Congress."

He said it was for the BJP to decide whether he would contest the upcoming assembly polls.

Chandra Bose, son of Amiya Nath Bose, is the convenor of The Open Platform for Netaji, a forum of family members and historians which has for decades campaigned for declassification of files related to the revolutionary leader.