Netaji's grand nephew Chandra Kumar Bose sharing stage with BJP chief Amit Shah in Kolkata
Just ahead of the election in Bengal, the BJP accrued an asset with considerable popular appeal - Chandra Kumar Bose, the grand nephew of iconic freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose.
Mr Bose, 55, a former Tata Steel employee who launched his own human resources consultancy in the year 2000, today joined the BJP after meeting party President Amit Shah at a rally in Kolkata today. Displaying the sort of political skill that's likely to serve him well, Mr Bose had earlier neither confirm nor deny reports of his new political affiliation.
Over the weekend, the government began declassifying secret files to settle questions over the death of Subhas Chandra Bose -"Netaji"- a Congress party leader who formed a national army to fight for independence with the help of the Japanese in the 1940s.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released digital copies of 100 secret files on Saturday relating to Netaji's life. After independence, two inquiries concluded Netaji died in a plane crash in 1945. A third concluded he did not die in the reported crash. The Bose family didn't believe in the plane crash conclusion and sought declassification of government files.
The BJP is looking, under the leadership of Mr Shah, to build on the early momentum it displayed in Bengal in the 2014 national election, where it won two parliamentary seats.
In recent weeks, its leaders have attacked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for recent communal tension in Malda. Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is looking for a second consecutive term in the state. She wrested Bengal in 2011 from nearly three decades of Communist rule.