It all started when Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee was passing by the corridor outside Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s chamber while on his way to attend a meeting with Labour Minister Anadi Sahu around 2 pm.

Upon seeing that Netaji’s portrait was not garlanded, Mukherjee was furious, saying: “If the government fails to pay tributes to the leader, I shall come back and garland the portrait.”

When the word got around, Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty and Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen were quick to react. They collected garlands and offered it to Netaji’s portrait around 3 pm. Within an hour, the police cleaned the portrait and placed it on a table.

“We have come here to garland Netaji. It does not matter whether it is 12 noon or 3 pm,” the chief secretary said. The CM too was prompt to react, saying it was regrettable but also blamed the Congress for “denying” Netaji’s legacy during its rule.

“The day was observed throughout the state with due respect. Regarding the portrait at the Writers’ Buildings not being garlanded, I must admit there was a lapse. But the chief secretary promptly garlanded the portrait,” the CM said in a statement.

“I must mention in this context that throughout the Congress rule, there was not even a photograph of Netaji in the Writers’ Buildings. They, for political reasons, have denied Netaji’s legacy,” he said.

Reached by reporters, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee too joined the issue and promptly sent Leader of the Opposition Partho Chatterjee to the Writers’ Buildings to offer flowers to Netaji’s portrait.

Later, at a function at Red Road, the chief minister echoed his predecessor Jyoti Basu’s admission 14 years ago that the assessment of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose by Communists was “wrong”.