The Tripura opposition leader added that though Netaji was born in Odisha, studied at Presidency College and moved to London for his IAS, he had started his revolution from Bengal.
Priyanka Deb Barman: Former Tripura Chief Minister and opposition leader Manik Sarkar on Sunday criticised the Centre’s rejection of a proposed Republic Day tableau on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s role in India’s freedom movement and said that the Centre’s decision of setting up the freedom fighter’s statue at India Gate was an attempt to save face.
Pointing out that the Centre had rejected tableaus of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, apart from West Bengal, the former Tripura CM said, “The Centre only selected the tableaus of their choice. The states didn’t have any rights or freedom. The Centre’s decision to set up Netaji’s statue at India Gate was in order to save their faces. They can better explain how much respect they pay to Netaji through unveiling the statue.”
On the rejection of West Bengal’s tableau, Sarkar said, “What mistake did the Bengal government make by choosing Netaji as the theme for the Republic Day Parade? Netaji’s birthday is of importance as this year is his 125th birth anniversary. Why did they (Centre) reject the tableau?”
The Tripura opposition leader added that though Netaji was born in Odisha, studied at Presidency College and moved to London for his IAS, he had started his revolution from Bengal. Sarkar was attending a blood donation programme at Bamutia, a few kilometres away from Kolkata.
After their proposed tableau was rejected by the Union government, the West Bengal government decided to display a similar tableau during the Republic Day Parade held annually in Kolkata.
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) did not make any comment on the issue.
However, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said, “His comments show a secret understanding between CPM and the Trinamool Congress. Regarding paying respect to Netaji, I must say that setting up of his statue at India Gate happened only during the BJP government’s tenure. No such honour was given to Netaji in the earlier government’s regime.”
