Gandhi declared open war against Bose after 1939,Tripuri election of Congress President, when Netaji defeated Gandhi supported candidate Sitaramyya.
For the 1939 elections of the President of Congress, Subhash announced his candidature. By this time, Nehru was on a long holiday in Europe. When he returned in 1938, Gandhi suggested him to announce his name as a candidate. But he declined and suggested the name of Maulana Azad. But Maulana Azad withdrew his name and then new name came up was of Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya, an Andhra leader. The result was declared on January 29, 1939 and Subhash secured 1580 Votes. Sitaramaya got 1377 votes, thus Subhash winning by clear margin.
But the defeat of Sitaramayya was taken by Gandhi as a personal blow. He said… I am glad of his (Subhash’s) victory….and since I was instrumental in inducing Dr. Pattabhi not to withdraw his name after Maulana Azad Sahib done so, the defeat is more mine than his….”.Gandhi said that Bose was president in his own right. He should form his own working committee and run the congress.

Gandhi in a characteristic way had declared a “personal” war against Bose. Actually, Gandhi meticulously started planning to destroy Subhash, who was now the most serious challenge to his ideology and superiority. Gandhi, whom we today cherish as Father of the Nation, planned his moves against Subhash with utmost care.

The constitution of Congress did not provide for the removal of the President and the delegates vote was something which could not be reversed. The Congress Working committee was still controlled by the followers of Gandhi. Thus , Subhash might reign but could not rule.

In March 1939, Congress met at annual session at Tripuri near Jabalpur.Prior to this session, Bose fell ill (which may be a psychological reaction to the stress) just before February 20-21, when a meeting of Congress Working Committee was held in Wardha. Subhash was unable to reach and so sent a telegram to Patel to postpone the meeting of working committee till the annual session. He had also sent a telegram to Gandhi to nominate the working committee as his wish, but strangely Gandhi DID NOT SUGGEST any name.

But this telegram hurt the congressmen. They said that this demonstrates Subhash’s dictatorial ambition, who does not want the congress to do the normal business in his absence. The result was that Patel and other 11 members resigned from the Working Committee. Earlier, Bose had described the followers of Gandhi as of low intellectual level. The members of Congress wanted Subhash to apologize for the slur. He refused.

In this session, when Subhash was brought to the dais on stretcher, one of the congressmen fanned “Why don’t you check whether he has any onions under his armpits” (Onions when kept under armpits raise the temperature of the body).
Such was the disastrous division between Subhash and Gandhi & his followers. Next Month, Subhash resigned from Congress and now he was on an entirely different path.