Ahead of the high-stake West Bengal Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit West Bengal on January 23, which is celebrated as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary.

The Centre has constituted a high-level committee to commemorate Bose’s 125th birth anniversary as a mark of his  contribution to India’s freedom struggle.

Headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the committee also includes experts, historians, authors, family members of Bose as well as eminent persons associated with Azad Hind Fauj.

This panel will decide on the activities for the one-year commemoration starting January 23, 2021.

Sensing the major traction that the memory of Bose has with people of Bengal, BJP has already roped in  Chandra Kumar Bose in the party. He is the grand nephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and grandson of Sarat Chandra Bose, elder brother of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

He was at the head of a campaign for the complete declassification of Bose-related documents.

After coming to power at the Centre in 2014, the Modi government had promised to declassify all the secret documents on the possible last days of Bose, still shrouded in mystery.

Some documents were made public but they hardly threw much light on the circumstances leading to the death of Netaji.

The BJP Government, however, undertook  new initiatives towards preserving  Bose’s legacy, including  setting up a museum at Red Fort and In 2018.

Three islands in Andaman and Nicobar- the Ross Island, the Neil Island and the Havelock Island were renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep.

Modi’s expected visit to West Bengal assumes significance and set the pitch for the BJP campaign ahead of the state Assembly elections due in April-May 2021.

BJP is looking to make major inroads in the WB polls buoyed by its win in 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the 2019 General Election.

Both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda have expressed confidence in the party winning more than 200 seats in the coming Assembly polls.