By IANS,
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Saturday said that it was a great mistake on the part of the communists to doubt the patriotism of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose – a prominent figure in India’s freedom struggle.
“It was a great mistake on the part of the communists who had once doubted about the patriotic feelings of our great leader Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. There should not be any question about his patriotism at all,” Bhattacharjee said at a rally here on the 113th birth anniversary of Netaji.
He said: “There were some differences between the communists and Netaji as far as our political ideologies were concerned.”
Criticising the Congress-led government for promoting “one-sided history of India’s freedom struggle”, Bhattacharjee said that Netaji’s contribution to India’s freedom movement would always remain “unforgettable”.
“Gandhiji was definitely a great figure in the history of India’s freedom struggle, but we should not forget the contribution of Netaji,” the chief minister said.
“I don’t know how we will be able to dream about a modern India if we deny the role of Subhas Chandra Bose,” he said.
In the evening, Bhattacharjee also issued a written statement apologising for not garlanding the photo of Netaji on time at state secretariat Writer’s Buildings.
Senior leaders from Trinamool Congress and Congress had protested the delay in garlanding Netaji’s photo at the state secretariat.
“I agree that it was an administrative mistake. After I came to know about the incident, I personally spoke to both the state chief secretary and home secretary. Later, both of them garlanded the photo,” the statement said.