# Bengal BJP balances Netaji legacy with Mookerjee’s ideological legacy 2026-08-15T10:00:19+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has called Subhas Chandra Bose a “leader of leaders” after remarks about Bose’s political rivalry with Syama Prasad Mookerjee triggered controversy. The Federal reports that Bhattacharya had alleged Forward Bloc workers attacked Mookerjee during the 1940 Calcutta Municipal Corporation election, without naming Bose. BJP MP Nagen Roy also reportedly called Bose a “war criminal” and questioned the Indian National Army’s role in the freedom struggle. The dispute widened after a plaque in Rampurhat renamed Netaji Subhash Road after Mookerjee, though the municipality said it had not approved the change. The Federal says the BJP’s effort to give Mookerjee greater public prominence has revived an older contest between Bose’s inclusive nationalism and Mookerjee’s Hindu nationalist politics. ## Coverage - thefederal.com Tags: BJP, Indian National Army, Subhas Chandra Bose, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, West Bengal Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bengal-bjp-balances-netaji-legacy-with-mookerjees-ideological-legacy/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bengal-bjp-balances-netaji-legacy-with-mookerjees-ideological-legacy/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.