Government should declassify the secret files relating to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and not wait till January 23 next year, ahead of Assemly elections in West Bengal, to start the process, an unfazed Congress said.

The party said that Modi government was also raising an accusing finger against Atal Bihari Vajpayee if it is questioning the decision of previous governments not to declassify the files and alleged that the BJP was trying to appropriate the legacy of Congress leaders.

“Why is the government waiting till January 23, 2016 to make the documents public? Is it because of Bengal polls? They should do it today or tomorrow. Why to keep up the suspense?”, party’s senior spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters.

Throwing more than adequate hints that the exercise was being undertaken with an eye on Assembly polls, Sharma claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “had cried” during the recent visit to the US “targeting voters in Bihar”.

“It is sad and unfortunate…But this is how his mind functions. The Prime Minister is a good event manager,” remarked Sharma when asked about the Prime Minister’s announcement that government will start unveiling the secret files related to Netaji from January 23 next year, raising hopes about solving the seven-decade-old mystery about his disappearance.

Declaring that “there is no need to strangle history”, Modi told Netaji’s family members during a meeting here yesterday that he would also urge foreign governments to declassify files on Bose available with them by writing to them and personally taking up with their leaders, beginning with Russia in December.

Sharma noted that there were years when Congress was not in power but still non-Congress governments including the one led by BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided not to make the documents public.

He said any insinuation against previous governments on the issue also meant an attack on Vajpayee.

“If an accusing finger is raised against the Indian National Congress, then it is also pointed towards Vajpayee who has been one of the most respectable leaders of the BJP”.

Besides, he insisted, that the move is part of appropriating the legacy of the Congress stalwarts in the freedom struggle.

“The Prime Minister is trying to appropriate the legacy of our leaders. They have tried it with Sardar Patel…They had nothing to do with the freedom struggle”

Successive governments have refused to make public these documents, arguing that India’s relations with foreign countries would be jeopardised. Modi’s office too had stated till August this year that the files cannot be declassified as it will adversely affect relations with foreign countries.

The demands for declassification of secret files have been growing lately, especially after the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal recently declassified 64 files which were in its possession.

The Supreme Court extended voluntary use of Aadhaar card for schemes like MGNREGA, all types of pension schemes, PM’s Jan Dhan Yojana and EPF.

The apex court constitution bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu modified its earlier order saying that Aadhaar card scheme is purely voluntary and not mandatory till matter is decided by this court.

The apex court modified the order on a batch of applications by the central government and its various agencies seeking modification of August 11 order by which the use of Aadhaar card was limited for getting foodgrain and kerosene under PDS and for LPG.

On August 11, the apex court had said that Aadhaar card will remain optional for availing welfare schemes of the government and the authorities will not use it for the purposes other than PDS and LPG distribution system.

The Centre, RBI, SEBI, IRDA, TRAI, Pension Fund Regulatory Authority and states like Gujarat and Jharkhand had recently moved the court and pitched strongly for voluntary use of Aadhaar cards for providing benefits of various schemes, other than PDS and LPG, at the doorstep of the aged people and the weaker sections.

Taking a contrary stand on return of Sahitiya Akademi awards by eminent writers, former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor commented that although writers have every right to stand up for their freedom of expression, returning the awards amount to “dishonouring” the recognition.

“Personally, I regret the fact that a section of writers have returned the Akademi awards. Award is a recognition of intellectual, literary, creative or academic merits. It is not a political act,” he said.

“Sahitya Akademi is actually an independent institution, and the concerns we have are political ones. For writers, I think there is no need to confuse these two. One should oppose the present climate…One should stand up for freedom…But one should not dishonour the award,” he said.

An established writer and columnist, Tharoor said awards are “society’s tributes to the achievements of writers and neither the achievements nor the tributes can be rolled back.”

However, the Congress leader said he was very much glad that so many writers had stood up for their cause at a time when many others had preferred silence.

“Writers are justified in their concern because the atmosphere of intellectual freedom is essential to promote and permit creativity in writing. Freedom of expression is something which any writer has a moral obligation to pick up for,” the 59-year-old MP from the state capital said.

Stating that freedom of expression is not just an abstract right in the constitution, Tharoor noted it was “as important as the blood that flows in our vein or the ink that flows in the pen”.

If the Sahitya Akademi is a disappointment to these writers, the Akademi itself must be pressured to review its stand on these issues, the former diplomat felt.

“Many prominent Malayalam writers including M T Vasudevan Nair, Paul Zacharia and Sugathakumari have not returned their Akademi honours. I do not think that they are any less committed to freedom,” he said.