Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
ROOPNAGAR, JULY 27: The chairman of Netaji Research Foundation, V.P. Saini, announced that the followers of Subhash Chandra Bose had floated a new political party and decided to field candidates in the ensuing elections.
The party, called the ``All India Netaji Revolutionary Party'', was formed at the end of the fifth All India Netaji Conference, convened here to chalk out a strategy for the proposed enquiry commission looking into the mysterious disappearance of Subhash Chandra Bose.
Though the newly floated party has lost its chance to be recognized by the Election Commission, Saini said the candidates may contest independently.
Saini, who is also the founder and president of the party, is willing to contest the polls, but said the election strategy shall be formally announced after some time.
According to Saini, his decision to float a party of Bose's supporters stems from disillusionment due to the half-hearted approach of the central government in appointing a fresh enquiry commission.
Although the Home Minister, L.K. Advani, has announced a decision to constitute a fresh enquiry commission to probe the circumstances leading to Bose's disappearance, Saini said that the matter is being delayed and the names of the proposed commission members are yet to be announced. Besides, no official premises have been allocated to the said commission for the job.
A resentful Saini said that the previous enquiries have only held that Bose died in the air crash, a theory which Netaji's supporters do not accept. This had necessitated the need of a fresh enquiry commission which is likely to unfold the controversy over Bose's disappearance.
Realizing that this aim cannot be achieved without political power, Saini said that the participants at the two-day Netaji Conference resolved to float a party to contest the elections. ``They will take the issue to the people besides Netaji's socialist policies and programmes,'' he said. ``It might take several years to make our presence felt on the Indian political scene but a beginning has been made'', he added.
Earlier, the participants, including the secretary general of All India Forward Block, Debabrata Biswas, Karnataka Legislative Council D.B. Kalmankar, West Bengal Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kalimuddin and Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh, resolved to constitute a shadow committee comprising of scholars and historians to ensure that the proposed commission gives a satisfactory report unlike previous findings.
An 11-member Netaji probe shadow committee has now been set up to assist and monitor the working of the proposed commission. Ashok Ghosh, D.B. Kalmankar, Joyanta Roy, a Rajya Sabha member, Debabrata Biswas, V.P. Saini and nephews of Subhash Bose- Pradip Bose and Shuratha Bose, are some of the members of the committee.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------