Forward Bloc-BJP war of words escalates over ‘goons’ jibe, Netaji legacy
Times of India | 8 July 2026
Kolkata: The All India Forward Bloc on Tuesday hit back at Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya for calling its members “goons,” asserting that ideological opposition should not be labelled as hooliganism. The party urged Bhattacharya to exercise restraint. Author Chandrachur Ghose, who has written several books on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, also criticised Bhattacharya‘s remarks.
However, escalating the face-off later on Tuesday, Bhattacharya doubled down on his remarks at a separate event, maintaining that the historical attackers of Syama Prasad Mookerjee were indeed “goons.”
He went on to pull Subhas Chandra Bose and Sarat Chandra Bose into the political debate. “When Hindus were being tortured in Bangladesh between 1937 and 1939, Syama Prasad approached Subhas Chandra Bose and Sarat Bose, requesting them to raise their voices and issue statements to protect them. Neither listened to Mookerjee,” Bhattacharya claimed. He added that though Mookerjee had not yet entered active politics, Subhas Bose realised that Mookerjee’s Hindu Mahasabha could split Congress supporters. “He (Subhas Bose) said that if a new political party was formed by Syama Prasad, he would kill it before it was born,” Bhattacharya alleged.
Referring back to the stone-pelting incident at Mohammad Ali Park, Bhattacharya said on Tuesday: “I would not name who ordered the stone-pelting at Syama Prasad that day, as that would spark a fresh debate. But history is cruel and objective.” He pointed out that Mookerjee’s ideological successors have now assumed political significance in the state. Highlighting Mookerjee’s personal life, Bhattacharya added: “When poet Nazrul Islam was unwell and neglected, Mookerjee donated the entire fund he had kept aside for his own father’s last rites to support him.”
The remarks amplified the sharp criticism from the Forward Bloc, which countered earlier in the day that there are “no goons in the party.” In a Facebook post, the party stated: “We have workers who follow Netaji and want to build a nation of his dreams.”
Speaking on the phone, Forward Bloc national general secretary G Devarajan termed Bhattacharya’s narrative a “historically distorted statement.”
“It is a historical fact that during the 1940 Calcutta Municipal Corporation election, Syama Prasad tried to mobilise support by appealing to communal sentiments. He tried to divide the people of Bengal on communal lines, and the Forward Bloc resisted that attempt. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose repeatedly warned Syama Prasad against making statements that could inflame communal passions,” Devarajan said, demanding that Bhattacharya review and retract his allegations.
Author Chandrachur Ghose also slammed Bhattacharya, advising BJP workers to show restraint. In a Facebook comment, Ghose wrote: “Were the likes of Narendranarayan Chakraborty and Hemanta Basu goons? Did Subhas Chandra Bose encourage goons? Had Mookerjee been that popular, the Hindu Mahasabha would have won every seat in the municipal election. Syama Prasad himself quit the Hindu Mahasabha in 1948.”