Yogi attributes Netaji’s ‘Give me blood...’ to Swamiji, draws flak
Times of India | 21 April 2026
Kolkata: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath's faux pas on Monday attributing Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's iconic "give me blood, I will give you freedom" slogan to Swami Vivekananda led to sharp criticism not only from Trinamool but also from Samajwadi Party in his home state.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Bankura's Joypur, Adityanath said, "Swami Vivekananda said, ‘give me blood, I will give you freedom'."
Trinamool MP Sagarika Ghose was the first to react. In a post on X, she said: "The utter and shameful illiteracy of BJP on Bengal is exposed every day again and again. No Yogi Adityanath Ji, it was NOT Swami Vivekananda but Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose who uttered the iconic slogan. Give me blood, I promise you freedom. Go home BJP. Don't even try in Bengal."
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav reacted. Sharing a video of the incident, Yadav said Adityanath's comment "has dealt a deep blow to Uttar Pradesh's image across the entire world — people are saying, if the reins of UP are in the hands of such folk, then what hope is there?"
"That said, one reason for this could be that people from their faction weren't even part of the freedom struggle, so how would these underground role-players — who only pass information from one ear to the other — know the history of freedom fighters? They've always been the sort who let knowledge go in one ear and out the other," Yadav added.
Adityanath has repeatedly referred to Bengal icons such as Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Ramakrishna Paramhansa in his speeches.
Trinamool, in a post on X, said the comment had exposed "BJP's shocking ignorance and contempt for Bengal's history." The party further said that the UP CM insulted two sons of the soil in one sentence.
The slogan in question, "give me blood, I will give you freedom" was raised by Netaji during his July 1944 declaration in Burma to Indian National Army (INA) soldiers to fight against British rule.