West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention for declaring Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birthday on January 23 as a national holiday. She also urged Modi to personally see that the Centre takes appropriate steps to give a conclusive picture on the freedom fighter's disappearance on August 18, 1945."
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has a special place in our hearts. I would like to request your kind personal intervention to see that the Central Government declared 23rd January, Netaji's birthday, a National Holiday and also takes appropriate steps to to give a conclusive position to the issue relating to the disappearance of Netaji...(sic)" the CM wrote. In her two-page-long letter, Banerjee emphasized that the state had long been demanding that January 23 be declared a national holiday.