Murmu visits Netaji’s house in Kolkata

Kolkata, Mar 27 (PTI) President Draupadi Murmu on Monday visited the ancestral home of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose here and paid tributes to the freedom fighter.
Murmu, who is on a two-day visit to West Bengal, toured the ‘Netaji Bhavan’, now a memorial, and briefed Netaji’s grandson Sumantra Bose on the importance of the historic building, which has witnessed many incidents of the country’s independence. Struggle
Along with Governor CV Ananda Bose, Murmu first described the historic car in which Netaji escaped from his residence on January 16, 1941 — the ‘1937 Wanderer W24’.
The President visited Netaji’s study, his bedroom and ‘The Great Escape Staircase’ that Netaji used to come down, where his son-in-law Sisir Bose stopped the Wanderer to escape.
After staying at Netaji Bhavan for about 10 minutes, Murmu left for a brief visit to Rabindranath Tagore’s residence at Jorasango Thakurbari in the heart of the city.
Earlier the President was received by Bose and Ministers of State Firhad Hakim and Sujit Bose. He was felicitated by security forces at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport here.
Security arrangements were beefed up in the city for Murmu’s first visit after assuming office as president.
He was welcomed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who arrived at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club ground in a helicopter from the airport.
In the evening, Murmu will be felicitated by the West Bengal government in a function attended by the Governor and the Chief Minister at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
The President, who visited the Belur Mutt, headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mutt and the Ramakrishna Mission, is scheduled to participate in a function of UCO Bank on Tuesday to celebrate the public sector bank’s 80th anniversary.
Murmu will visit Santiniketan in Birbhum district to celebrate the annual convocation ceremony of Vishwabharathi, a central university.