During his recent visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, PM Modi renamed three islands in the archipelago as Netaji, Shaheed and Swaraj.
The Forward Bloc has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rename Netaji Jayanti that falls on January 23 as Deshprem Divas.
Referring to PM Modi as an "ardent admirer of Netaji", the socialist leaning party, in a letter requested that the day be renamed as Deshprem Divas at the earliest as January 23, 2019 would be the 123rd birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
It would not be surprising if PM Modi accepts the offer on a short notice as it could help the BJP get wider acceptance in West Bengal to counter the Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee as Netaji continues to remain a popular icon in West Bengal as well as the whole country.
In fact, after becoming prime minister in 2014, Narendra Modi has taken various steps to push the legacy of Bose. Besides, the Central government made majority of the secret files related to Netaji's life and sudden disappearance public, and celebrated the 75th anniversary of the foundation of Azad Hind government on October 21. Donning trademark Netaji cap, PM Modi also hoisted the tricolour at the Red Fort last year.
During his recent visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, PM Modi renamed three islands in the archipelago as Netaji, Shaheed and Swaraj.
The Forward Bloc had put a similar demand to the Congress led UPA government about eight years ago in 2008 but it was rejected by the then Prime Minister's Office.
"His supreme sacrifice and love for his country are rare instances of noble quality that are found in the history of our freedom struggle. Gandhiji himself once paid the highest tributes to Subhas by mentioning him as the 'patriot of patriots'... We have made many representations to the government of India and our MPs have raised the demand several times in Parliament to declare January 23 as Deshprem Divas," the letter by general secretary of the Forward Bloc, Debabrata Biswas said.
"But the government of India is suspiciously reluctant to accept people's demand," added the letter.
The demand was first raised in the Rajya Sabha in 2008 by Forward Bloc MP Barun Mukherjee, who had said the declaration of January 23 as Deshprem Divas would instill a sense of patriotism among the youth of the country.
Last year too, former CPM leader Ritabrata Banerjee had raised the issue and demanded that Netaji Jayanti be declared a national holiday.
The Forward Bloc was founded by Subhas Chandra Bose in on May 3, 1939 after he, out-manoeuvered by Mahatma Gandhi, resigned from the presidency of the Indian National Congress on April 29.
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