Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru at a Congress meet
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is in the news this year mainly for the fact that the start of his 125thbirth anniversary coincides with what will be a bitterly contested state election in his native state West Bengal in May. The Union government declared January 23 as ‘Parakram Divas’, or Valour Day, to commemorate his birth anniversary. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to address a rally in Kolkata on this day. The Mamata Banerjee government, sensing a BJP attempt to appropriate another Bengali icon, has announced plans to celebrate the day as ‘Desh Nayak Diwas’. Either ways, the legacy of an iconic freedom fighter has got another lease of life.