Chandra Bose joins Trinamool, slams BJP for ‘divisive politics’
Times of India | 13 April 2026
Kolkata: Subhas Chandra Bose's grandnephew Chandra Bose joined Trinamool on Sunday, in the presence of state education minister Bratya Basu and party MP Kirti Azad.
A former BJP neta, Bose quit the party in 2023 after unsuccessfully contesting the 2016 Assembly election from Bhawanipore and the 2019 Lok Sabha poll from south Kolkata. "We welcome Chandra Bose to our party," said Bratya Basu.
"BJP's policies are blatantly communal and anti-Constitution. They attempt to win elections by playing the religion card, which is a divisive policy and is inconsistent with the spirit of our Constitution. This is exactly what the British did during their 200-year rule in India. We drove them out and now the time has come to drive out BJP," Bose told TOI.
"Subhas Bose's idea of an independent India was that of a country where all religions, communities and castes would be treated equally. I joined BJP inspired by PM Narendra Modi's promise of a new, corruption-free India. But it turned out to be a hollow promise. They were pursuing only politics of communalism, which is dangerous and self-defeating. It will split our country and the states will turn into separate nations. BJP could be winning elections but the country is losing," he added.
"BJP has announced several schemes on Sunday. But how will you implement any scheme in a communally divided India?" he questioned.
Bose said he would work as a "soldier" of TMC and thanked CM Mamata Banerjee, calling her "the only neta who has been working to unite all communities".