Discovered Vivekananda's writings as a teenager; opted out of the ICS in 1921 after placing fourth, following Aurobindo's earlier example; mentored by Chittaranjan Das; twice elected INC President, winning a contested 1939 election before being forced to resign amid a leadership standoff; escaped house arrest in disguise in January 1941, travelled via Kabul, Moscow and Berlin to Germany; met Hitler in 1942 without securing a clear independence declaration; travelled by submarine to Southeast Asia in 1943; took over the Indian Independence League and INA from Rashbehari Bose at Singapore's Cathay Theatre on 4 July 1943; declared the Provisional Government of Free India on 21 October 1943; led the INA's failed Imphal-Kohima campaign in 1944.
Contribution
Tier 1 terminus bridge node carrying the entire revolutionary lineage, Aurobindo's ideology and Rashbehari's organisational network, into the INA and the final push toward Independence.
After the movement
Officially reported to have died in a plane crash in Taipei on 18 August 1945, a claim disputed ever since; did not live to see Independence.