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Updated: Jul 28, 2018 00:04 IST

A grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose engaged in a Twitter war with Tripura governor Tathagata Roy over the former’s sarcastic remark that Mahatma Gandhi had treated goat as mother and asked Hindus to stop consuming goat meat.

Chandra Kumar Bose, a vice-president of the West Bengal unit of BJP, made the comments while criticising the number of lynchings by cow vigilantes in BJP-ruled states across the country.

Gandhi ji used to stay in my grandfather-Sarat Chandra Bose's house at 1 WoodburnPark in Kolkata.He demanded goat's milk! Two goats brought to the house for this purpose. Gandhi protector of Hindus treated goats as Mata by consuming goats milk. Hindus stop eating goat's meat — Chandra Kumar Bose (@Chandrabosebjp) July 26, 2018

“Gandhiji used to stay at my grandfather Sarat Chandra Bose’s house at 1, Woodburn Park, in Kolkata. He demanded goat’s milk! Two goats brought to the house for this purpose. Gandhi, protector of Hindus, treated goats as Mata by consuming goats milk. Hindus stop eating goat’s meat,” Bose tweeted on Thursday.

Within three hours, Roy hit back, saying “Neither Gandhiji nor your grandfather ever said goats were Mata — that’s your conclusion. Nor did Gandhiji (or anyone else) ever proclaim that he was the protector of Hindus. We Hindus regard the cow as our mother, not the goat.”

“Please don’t peddle such rot,” quipped Roy.

Bose (57), the grandson of Netaji’s elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose, joined the BJP in 2016 and contested the Assembly elections the same year from Bhawanipore constituency against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. A student of economics, Bose worked for the Tata Group that he quit in 2000 to start his own venture.

Tathagata Roy (72), who calls himself a right-wing socio political thinker, writer and ideologue, was trained as a civil engineer. Admitting the sarcasm in his tweet, Bose said on Friday, “The views are personal. The cow-centric politics and repeated lynching in BJP-ruled states are disgusting.”

However, the spat between the two continued.

“Gandhiji insisted on having goat’s milk while staying in our ancestral house — it was implied that he treated the goat as #Mata. That was it. There need not be any argument/controversy on this issue,” Bose wrote.

What has that got to do with goat being a mother? Gandhiji's dearest disciple Jawaharlal Nehru (and his community,Kashmiri pandits) are all meat-eaters! — Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) 26 July 2018

“What has that got to do with goat being a mother? Gandhiji’s dearest disciple Jawaharlal Nehru (and his community, Kashmiri pandits) are all meat eaters!” argued Roy.

“We are staunch Hindus, but we don’t believe that religion has anything to do with what you eat! We despise bigotry and feel people with such archaic views have no place in #Bharat,” wrote Bose.

To that, Roy replied, “I am somewhat at a loss to understand you — I mean ‘you’ singular. Who are ‘we’? What are “such archaic views” — that the cow is our mother? Or that people who believe that the cow is our mother have no place in your perception of Bharat? I shall thank you for a clear answer.”

Bose continued, “’We’ means progressive people of new India who respect views of others — but don’t accept any animal as their ‘Mata’. We are animal lovers and activists — but don’t put any animals above humans! This should be the stand of #Bharatiyas who want to take #Bharat to new heights unitedly.”

"Progressive people of new India....who want to take Bharat to new Heights"! Hmm. I presume you have determined the views of all such ‘progressive people’. Also,since I understand you’re a Vice-President of West Bengal BJP,I presume these views are also shared by your party! — Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) 26 July 2018

“Progressive people of new India... who want to take Bharat to new Heights”! Hmm. I presume you have determined the views of all such ‘progressive people’. Also, since I understand you’re a vice-president of West Bengal BJP, I presume these views are also shared by your party!” the Tripura governor said in a parting shot.

Incidentally, Bose’s cousins, Sugata Bose, and Roy’s younger brother Saugata are Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MPs. While Sugata Bose was a professor of history, Saugata Roy used to teach physics in a Kolkata college.