'Netaji's legacy partly exploited for political reasons'

kolkata: Amid a controversy over the rejection of Bengal's tableau for the Republic Day parade themed on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army, his daughter Anita Bose-Pfaff said on Monday the legendary freedom fighter's legacy has often been "partly exploited" for political reasons.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, voicing her "shock" at the rejection of the tableau, which also featured other Bengal icons like Rabindranath Tagore, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and others.

"I have heard about it. I don't know under what circumstances it happened and why the tableau was not included. There might be some reasons. We can't imagine that the Republic Day function in the year when my father would have turned 125 is being held and his tableau was not included, it seems very strange," Bose-Pfaff said. "Certainly and partly for political reasons," she said while responding to a question about whether the legacy of the national hero was exploited for political purposes. She, however, proceeded to add that she would not criticise it as politics is about coming across people and communicating.