Ananta Maharaj loses Banga Bibhushan as BJP faces Netaji dilemma in Bengal

As former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee stepped up her protest against BJP leaders and workers over their comments on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the state government led by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari withdrew the Banga Bibhushan award from BJP Rajya Sabha member Nagendra Ray alias Ananta Maharaj in an apparent damage control exercise.

But the BJP has so far failed to announce any disciplinary action against its state president Samik Bhattacharya, who also made controversial remarks involving Netaji and his political legacy. The contrast has quickly turned the controversy from a dispute over historical comments into a test of political consistency.

The West Bengal government on Thursday, 13 August withdrew the Banga Bibhushan conferred on Ray by the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. The information and cultural affairs department said the award was being withdrawn with immediate effect because its retention had become "incompatible with the honour's prestige and standing". The government also ordered that his name be removed from the list of awardees.

Tellingly, there's no sign yet that the party will take any further action against Ray.

The decision followed a storm over Ray's comments on Netaji. The BJP MP questioned Bose's contribution to India's independence and made highly controversial claims about the Azad Hind Fauj. In one account of his remarks, he argued that the soldiers who formed the force had originally been captured by Germany and handed over to Netaji, and alleged that Bose had "misused" them. He also attributed a much larger historical role to the maharaja of Cooch Behar, claiming that the maharaja had fought Hitler and the Azad Hind Fauj.

Ray on Thursday defended himself, saying he had not invented the claims. "I did not speak my own words; I merely stated what is written and what exists on record," he said. He further claimed, "Sarat Chandra Bose stated this in the book Indian Independence Movement in East Asia. I merely quoted it." He insisted that he had done nothing wrong and said, "It must be proven that I was wrong."

The remarks became politically explosive because Netaji occupies an unusually powerful place in Bengal's public memory. For many Bengalis, disagreement over Bose's political choices is one thing; describing him in terms that appear to question his patriotism or historical contribution is quite another. The controversy has therefore created pressure on both the government and the BJP to demonstrate where they stand.

For the BJP, the controversy carries an additional electoral risk. Ray is not merely a party MP but a prominent figure among the Rajbongshi community in North Bengal, a politically important vote bank in the region. Rajbongshis account for a substantial share of the electorate across several North Bengal constituencies, and the community's support has played an important role in the BJP's electoral dominance in the region. The party had chosen Ray as its Rajya Sabha nominee in 2023 precisely with an eye on the Rajbongshi vote.

That makes the government's decision particularly awkward for the BJP. Ray has long been associated with the 'Greater Cooch Behar' movement and exercises influence among sections of the Rajbongshi community.

The pressure was intensified by Mamata Banerjee. Speaking from the protest, she announced a "zero-tolerance" approach towards insulting Netaji and said, "The law is equal for everyone", making it clear that political affiliation would not protect anyone. She also warned those responsible for objectionable social-media posts, "merely deleting the post will not save you from the long arm of the law".

Yet the political question remains why the same standard has not visibly been applied inside the BJP. Samik Bhattacharya became involved in a separate controversy in July when he spoke about Syama Prasad Mookerjee's political clashes with the Forward Bloc — which Netaji founded — and brought Subhas Chandra Bose and Sarat Chandra Bose into the argument. Bhattacharya claimed that when Hindus were being persecuted between 1937 and 1939, Mookerjee had approached the Bose brothers to speak out, but "neither listened to Mookerjee". He also described those who attacked Mookerjee as "goons".

The Forward Bloc accused Bhattacharya of distorting history and demanded that he retract his remarks. Its national general-secretary G. Devarajan said, "There were no goons in the party", while arguing that the historical context had been misrepresented. A protest march was subsequently organised over Bhattacharya's remarks.

The absence of visible BJP disciplinary action against its state president, alongside the government's punishment of Ray, provides the Opposition with an obvious political argument: if disrespect towards Netaji is genuinely a red line, it cannot depend on who made the remark.

The current controversy also recalls an earlier episode under Mamata Banerjee's government. In December 2017, Kolkata Police arrested Manimoy Aich, a physics student and administrator of the Facebook page 'Specified Tarkata', after complaints over allegedly offensive material concerning prominent personalities, including Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Rabindranath Tagore.

That history has acquired fresh relevance because another arrest took place in North Dinajpur on Thursday. Kiran Kumar Das, a resident of Jharbari under Chakulia police station, was arrested in Islampur over an alleged objectionable social-media post about Netaji. The arrest followed the chief minister's directive to identify and prosecute such posts.

The controversy took another dramatic turn on Thursday when a statue of Netaji in New Alipore, Kolkata, was vandalised. The right arm of the statue in Ward 81 was reportedly smashed under the cover of darkness. Police have begun an investigation.

The vandalism adds another dimension to an already charged political controversy. On Wednesday, the chief minister had warned that anyone insulting Netaji would face action. Within a day, a person was arrested over an alleged social-media post, an MP lost a state honour and a Netaji statue was vandalised.