The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday announced that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grandnephew, Chandra Bose, will be contesting the West Bengal assembly elections against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Confirming the development, Bose said the time has come to bring about change in West Bengal, adding that he believes the BJP will be successful in doing so. Asked if he will be positioned as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, Bose told NDTV, "That's for the party to decide." The 55-year-old also said he was not waging a "personal battle" against anyone and that "elections should not be about personalities".

Bose had joined the BJP in January, only days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declassified the first set of 100 files related to Netaji. He had then targeted the Mamata Banerjee government, saying only the chit fund industry is flourishing in the state and that it was turning into a safe haven for anti-national elements and fake currency racket, reported PTI. Historian Sugata Bose, another grandnephew of the freedom fighter, is a Trinamool Congress MP. Polling will be held in six phases in West Bengal between April 4 and May 5, with the results due on May 19.