BJP, MHA rubbish speculation on division of Bengal

NEW DELHI: West Bengal’s power corridors are buzzing with talk of a new union territory being carved out of the northern parts of West Bengal, while also including some districts from Bihar and Assam. The speculation gained ground after reports surfaced that some BJP leaders from north Bengal, who have been demanding that the northern part of the state be carved out as a separate state from the rest of Bengal—owing to “financial inequalities and underdevelopment” of the region—have been holding meetings at multiple levels.
Sources confirmed to The Sunday Guardian that several rounds of meetings have taken place with senior BJP leaders from north Bengal who have been demanding separation from West Bengal. However, the meetings have remained inconclusive. Meetings have also been held among some sections of leaders in north Bengal—leaders who are sympathetic towards a separate state of north Bengal.
Sources also confirmed to this newspaper that a meeting between Anant Rai, leader of the Greater Cooch Behar Movement and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nisith Paramanik took place on Friday in Cooch Behar, related to the creation of a separate state/union territory.
However, another faction in BJP Bengal says that leaders from north Bengal are deliberately trying to keep the “division of Bengal” issue alive for their own political benefits and that there is no merit in the argument that Bengal should be divided.
The north Bengal areas that the “disgruntled” leaders are eyeing are the districts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, as well as some parts of the Dooars region and Siliguri. Several prominent Bengali media outlets over the last one month have been publishing reports of several meetings being held not only among the local leaders, but also with Union Home Ministry officials over the division of Bengal and the creation of a separate state with these districts.
However, senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs told The Sunday Guardian that no meeting on the creation of a separate state had taken place. An official further stated, “These reports are frivolous and baseless. There is no truth in these reports. States are not created in such a manner.”
Local media reports suggest that north Bengal, along with some districts of Assam and Bihar, would be taken into the new state or Union Territory that would be carved out by breaking Bengal into two parts. The Sunday Guardian reached out to Darjeeling MP and national spokesperson of the BJP, Raju Bista, who said, “I cannot comment on the veracity of this claim. Any such decision is taken at the highest level of the government, and I am not privy to what is decided at that level. We will have to wait till this claim is officially validated or refuted by the Union Home Ministry.”
Bista further added, “But it is a fact that North Bengal has always been discriminated against. Even politicians from south Bengal have acknowledged this discrimination. Almost every decision taken for the state is taken from the Kolkata perspective, and since north Bengal is around 650 km away, the decision-makers sitting in Nabanna (state secretariat) seem to be oblivious of the plight of the people from our region. Our region suffers from active discrimination practised by the Trinamool Congress (TMC).”
When asked about the meetings held among some sections of the BJP leaders or like-minded leaders who want a separate state, Bista said, “I cannot comment on speculation.”
West Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson, Shamik Bhattacharya told The Sunday Guardian that the BJP did not support any division of Bengal. “These media reports and speculation are a hoax. As far as BJP’s political standpoint is concerned, the party does not support any claim of dividing any part of Bengal. Dr Shayamaprasad Mukherjee had fought for an undivided Bengal and we stick to that principle. The BJP does not support division of Bengal in any form, be it Gorkhaland, be it Uttar Banga or for that matter even a separate Coochbehar. We do not subscribe to and divide Bengali ideas or ideologies,” Bhattacharya told this newspaper.
Bhattacharya, however, said that north Bengal has remained underdeveloped because of the apathetic approach towards this region by the TMC government of West Bengal and due to this some resentment has been created among those people who want to separate from Bengal. “North Bengal has been assigned a budget of Rs 1,500 crore, but the TMC government has spent only Rs 400 crore for the development. The underdevelopment has resulted in unhappiness and resentment amongst the people of north Bengal against West Bengal/south Bengal. Several public representatives are facing the resentment of their electorates because of this attitude of the TMC government.”
Raju Bista also expressed similar sentiments and told this newspaper, “TMC pretends to care for North Bengal, but it is only on paper and is confined to their speeches. Even the Central government sponsored development meant for north Bengal has been taken away from our region. Are the people of north Bengal second-class citizens that we were deliberately deprived of a good hospital?”
“From the national security perspective too, our region is in a sensitive ‘Chicken’s Neck’ zone; today illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and Rohingyas in the border districts are at an all-time high. Nabanna seems to be least bothered about these developments, and the general feeling here is that TMC is actively encouraging these settlements, as these benefit them during elections,” Bista said.
A local Bengali media outlet that publishes from North Bengal reported last week about the developments related to the “breaking up of Bengal”. In its report, it said that some districts of Assam as well as Bihar would be a part of the new state/Union Territory that would be carved out of Bengal.
The report also said that meetings have taken place in the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the development and that the senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi have been tasked to finish the job by April next year. The report also cited possible names that had been shortlisted by the Home Ministry. According to the item, the new possible names could be “Himanchal Pradesh, Simanta Pradesh or Himalaya Pradesh”.