New Delhi: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s grand nephew and former West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president Chandra Kumar Bose resigned from the party on September 6, citing “ideological” differences.In his resignation letter to party president J.P. Nadda, dated September 6, Bose said that he had “chosen to take this critical step on a significant date for the Bose family which is the 134th birth anniversary of my grandfather Sarat Chandra Bose, the elder brother, mentor and comrade-in-arms of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.”“The Bose Brothers, Sarat Chandra and Subhas Chandra Bose, as they are popularly called, stood for an inclusive and secular ideology for independent India,” he said in the letter accessed by The Wire.He also stated in his letter that he had joined the party in 2016 because he was inspired by the leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi.‘Netaji never mixed religion and politics’Speaking to The Wire, Bose said that he continues to respect Modi, who came up on a development plank and an anti-corruption drive in 2014.“But once you are there and steering the country ahead you have to move ahead in an inclusive and secular manner,” he said.After joining the party in 2016, Bose has contested and lost two elections.In 2016 he was fielded by the BJP in that year’s assembly elections from the Bhawanipore seat against TMC supremo, chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress’s Deepa Dasmunshi. In 2019, he was fielded from Kolkata Dakshin constituency, another TMC bastion, against now MP Mala Roy.Referring to an incident during the 2019 campaign, Bose said that he received backlash after he visited a Muslim area where a skull cap was placed on his head.“I suggested [to the party] that the strategy should be that we approach all communities – if we are going to a slum, we should go to a Muslim area, we should also go to a Hindu area. But it did not work out that way,” he said.“I personally went while campaigning in 2019 to a Muslim area but there was a lot of criticism. Someone had placed a skull cap on my head. He said that if I were not from Netaji’s family he would not have given me this respect. I could not say no. Somebody took a photo and it went viral. It was close to Ram Navami celebrations and it became about how I wore a skull cap.”“These are wrong issues,” he said.“When Netaji was in Singapore he was invited to the Chettiar community’s Hindu temple. They wanted to give a donation to the Azad Hind Fauj. They said, ‘You only come with your Hindu officers.’ Subhas said very clearly to the head priest, ‘I don’t have any Hindu officers, I have only Indian officers. They include Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and if you allow them to come then I will come otherwise I will not and then the priest allowed them to come.”“Subhas was a devout Hindu, he was a Kali worshipper. But he never mixed religion with politics. That is the message I was trying to give,” he added.‘Polarisation politics did not work in Bengal’Bose said that he decided to leave the BJP as the country needs the inclusive and secular ideas of the Bose brothers.“I suppose I expected a bit too much from the BJP. I thought that we would be able to carry forward the ideology of the Bose brothers – my grandfather Sarat and his younger brother Netaji – of being inclusive and secular. Because I think that is what the country really needs right now.”“The culture of India is unity through diversity, you cannot change that. I thought I would be able to spread Netaji’s ideology across the country and I was told in uncertain terms that I would be allowed to do so.”Bose said that politics of polarisation is not what people expect in West Bengal.“This kind of polarisation politics, people don’t expect. Only in the border districts in Bengal, in certain areas, polarisation has helped the BJP. But overall if you see, especially in Kolkata and the surrounding areas, all the nine Lok Sabha seats we lost. That is because polarisation did not work.”The BJP has attempted to make inroads into Bengal in the state assembly elections in 2016 and 2021 and the general elections in 2019.In the 2016 state assembly elections the TMC won 211 of the 294 assembly seats while the BJP won only three.In the 2019 general elections, the BJP bettered its tally in the state after a high voltage campaign that saw Modi returning to power at the centre with a record mandate. Of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP increased its tally in 2019 general elections to 18 in comparison to the two seats it won in 2014.In the 2021 state assembly elections, the BJP won 77 seats while the TMC won 213 of the 294 seats.‘Cannot honour Netaji by only unveiling his statue’Bose said that while he appreciates the efforts taken by the Modi government to bring Netaji’s contributions to the forefront by declassifying his secret files that established that the freedom fighter died in an air crash in 1945 and constructing a statue in New Delhi at the India Gate, that alone cannot be enough.“The BJP’s efforts are very appreciated,” he said.“But the next step that I wanted was to follow Netaji’s inclusive ideology. I feel you cannot really honour the Bose brothers or Netaji just by unveiling his statue or just by constructing a museum or releasing his files.Also read: Why Netaji’s Daughter and Most of His Family Are Giving the Unveiling of His Statue a Miss“The only way (to honour him) is to follow his secular ideology to unite all communities as Bharatiyas which he preached through the Azad Hind Fauj.”Bose said that Netaji’s ideas are relevant to the India of 2023 and it is not just the BJP that is to blame for divisive politics in the country.“The only way to oppose division and save the nation is to follow the Bose brothers’ inclusive ideas and unite all communities as Bharatiyas. We are not Hindu, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains we are Bharatiya. This is what I wanted BJP to carry forward but unfortunately there we fell short.”‘Bengal strategy’In his resignation letter, Bose said that he had submitted a strategy for Bengal, which included constructive proposals which were ignored.“I had suggested that in order to make inroads into the Bengal districts and the Kolkata region first we really need to understand the history, heritage and culture of Bengal.”Referring to the political violence in Bengal before every election, Bose said that “it is very unfortunate that the present political scenario of Bengal is that of violence.”“But for that you cannot blame the people of Bengal. That is the political fraternity, who have hired goons. That is one side of Bengal. The other side of Bengal is that people are intellectually and politically very conscious. They cannot be swayed by fancy ideas and thoughts. They get into the basic issues that people want here.“I had suggested that instead of criticising your opponents you must have a Bengal strategy in terms of health, education and industry. If the people of Bengal give the BJP a chance, what are we going to do in these areas?”Bose said that he had suggested bringing in ways to ensure the right to education for everyone in Bengal, along with attention to medical care and investment that can help solve the state’s unemployment problem.“People want development. They know exactly what TMC is doing and what Left has done over 34 years. We don’t have to keep reminding them. We need to improve the quality of politics. It is not about just criticising the opponents,” he said.‘Left BJP due to ideology’With less than a year to go for the 2024 general election, Bose said that he wants to continue to work in politics but did not provide any details about whether he would join any other party after leaving the BJP.“I would like to work for the people and for Bengal and the nation. But unfortunately I did not get that opportunity even though I contested twice and lost. I left the party because of ideology. I have nothing personal against anyone.“It is not about becoming an MP,” he said.Bose said that India has come a long way since Netaji’s lifetime.“Netaji also said in the 1940s that we might get independence, we might be a free nation but the wishes that Netaji had for illiteracy, providing basic education and poverty we need to concentrate on that. Even after 77 years we are far away from the wishes of Netaji’s ideas,” he said.