By IANS,
Kolkata : Hundreds of people made a beeline for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s ancestral house at Elgin Road in the southern part of the city to celebrate the 113th birth anniversary of the the freedom fighter Saturday.
Governor Devanand Konwar attended a programme at his residence and also unveiled a book, Oracle, which is a compilation of a number of lectures on Netaji by various prominent personalities like former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and former Indian ambassador to the US Ronen Sen.
“We have also arranged an interactive session and a musical programme this evening to celebrate Netaji’s 113th birth anniversary,” an official of Netaji Research Bureau on Elgin Road told IANS.
He said Governor Konwar visited Netaji Research Bureau and also attended a programme at Netaji Institute for Asian Studies.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee and other state Left Front ministers garlanded Netaji’s statue near Esplanade. Forward Bloc state secretary Ashok Ghosh and Left Front chairman Biman Bose were also present at the occasion. Netaji had started the Forward Bloc party.
Meanwhile, senior state Trinamool Congress and Congress leaders protested because there was a delay in garlanding Netaji’s photo at the state secretariat Writers’ Buildings.
“We are feeling ashamed that Netaji’s photo was not garlanded at the state secretariat on time. We had to wait for this occasion till 3 p.m. today (Saturday),” Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chattopadhyay said.
Senior Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee also criticised the issue saying the chief minister must seek a public apology for this “shameful act”.
Later, the photo was garlanded by state chief secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty and home secretary Ardhendu Sen.