Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose photo unveiled by President original, says government; refutes `fake` debate

New Delhi: The Centre has refuted the claims that a ‘fake’ portrait of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was unveiled at Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Ram Nath Kovind. The government clarified that the portrait is based on an original photo of the freedom fighter, adding it “shows how the entire debate is fake and based on poor research.” 

On January 24, President Ram Nath Kovind unveiled a portrait of Netaji at the Rashtrapati Bhavan to mark the beginning of celebrations to commemorate Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary.

Many on social media alleged that the portrait unveiled by the President was not of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, but of actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, who played Subhas Chandra Bose in a 2019 Bengali film Gumnaami. The film, directed by Srijit Mukherjee, deals with Netaji’s death mystery.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also took to social media and Tweeted, “After donating Rs 5 lakh to the Ram temple the President honours Netaji by unveiling a portrait of Prasenjit, the actor who played him in biopic.”

The TMC MP also shared the tweet (https://t.co/RWnkZOP9BB) by President, but later deleted the message from her Twitter handle. 

An official statement by the Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier said, “The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, unveiled a portrait of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (January 23, 2021). The unveiling was to mark the beginning of year-long celebrations to commemorate 125th Birth Anniversary Year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.” 

President Kovind unveils the portrait of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Rashtrapati Bhavan to commemorate his 125th birth anniversary celebrations. pic.twitter.com/Y3BnylwA8X

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 23, 2021

The government decided to observe January 23 as “Parakram Divas” to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.