Subhash Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1879 to a wealthy and privileged Bengali family in Cuttack. After his Anglocentric education, he was sent to England to take the Indian Civil Service examination. With the first distinction, he cleared this exam but he did not take the routine final exam.
Why? Because, his nationalist sentiments called him. In 1921, he returned back to India and joined the Indian nationalist movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. He admired Nehru's leadership within the Congress which was more open to socialism. In 1938, Bose became the INC president for the first time. Consecutively, he won the next elections in 1939 held during the Tripuri session, against Pattabhi Sitharamayya by a narrow margin. Bose had an utmost respect towards Gandhi and his philosophy of ahimsa, yet the later events created a drift between the two and Bose resigned from his position and left the Congress. It is rather complex to understand as to why the split between the two happened but the roots lie in Gandhi's extreme opposition of violence.
Both Gandhi and Bose considered socialism to be the way forward in the independent India because the kind of society that India had turned into was unjust and unfair towards the poor. They believed that poverty could only be fought with, if socialism was to be followed in independent India. They worked against untouchability and women's emancipation. They were both religious men and disliked communism which demanded people to turn into atheists and abandon their faiths in divinity. While Bose believed Gandhi to be the symbol of Indian nationalism and called him " The father of our nation", Gandhi named Bose the "Prince amongst the patriots". So, what exactly separated the two causing a rift? While Gandhi is known for his non violent approach of ideology, Bose on the other hand believed that non violence could not win them freedom. In December 1938, Bose had a meeting with the Nazi representatives where Bose urged the Hitlerian regime to stop insulting the Indians telling them that the Nazis are not respected either for extinguishing democracy, eliminating the socialist ideas. This meeting was condemned by Gandhi and other INC leaders especially because of the diplomatic pressure which was being raised by the British and the allies against the axis powers. Bose announced his candidature in 1939 for the Presidential elections of the INC knowing that he would be opposed. During this period, Gandhi nominated Maulana Azad who later withdrew his name and was replaced by Dr. Pattabhi Sitharamaya. Though the results came out to be in Bose's favour, he secured 1580 votes while his opponent Sitharamaya received 1377 votes, this defeat of Sitharamaya was taken as a personal blow by Gandhi. After Bose became the president again in 1939, the INC leaders made it hard for him to work efficiently, leading him to resign from his presidential post and leave the Congress. Bose had always eyed the result of his actions refusing to take any moral responsibility for them. In 1942, he met with Hitler in Berlin asking him to help him win India from the British where he met with the Indian troops of the Indian legion. After Hitler refused to fight any wars outside of Europe, he gathered the Indian legion and headed towards the Japanese support. He formed the Azad Hind Fauj and fought the Battles of Singapore and Imphal alongside the Fascist forces of Imperial Japan to regain freedom for the land of India from the British Empire. Gandhi, in contrast to this, had always prioritised means before the ends, he always used the just and non violent means no matter how desirable the end result was.
Although Gandhi and Bose differed in their ideologies and philosophical approach, they both had deep respect for one another. However, the events might have turned out to, they both appreciated each others' contribution in the national struggle for freedom.