Reeling from Bengal poll blows, BJP pitch for state bifurcation betrays divided house

Soon after the Lok Sabha polls, in which the BJP saw its tally come down to 12 from the 18 it had won in 2019, Sukanta Majumdar called for a division of the state.

On July 24, Majumdar appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to incorporate north Bengal into the Northeast. In a video statement issued from Delhi, Majumdar, who is also the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Education, said, “I met with the PM and handed over a presentation, highlighting the similarities between north Bengal and the Northeast states. I requested him to incorporate north Bengal, a part of West Bengal, into the Northeast (states).”

He said this way, more Central funds and development would come to the people of the region. “There will be more development. I do not think the state government will have any objections and will cooperate,” Majumdar claimed, triggering a backlash from the TMC.

Majumdar’s proposal was backed by BJP MP from Darjeeling, Raju Bista, who said that it was “logical” since “culturally rich north Bengal has vast resources, but gets only 0.002% of West Bengal’s annual budget”.

BJP MP Nagendra Ray, popularly known as Anant Maharaj, also demanded a separate state of Cooch Behar to be carved out of north Bengal. “The injustice that has been done to the people of Cooch Behar since Independence must be rectified,” said Ray, who is also a leader of the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association that is demanding a separate state for the Rajbanshi community by including parts of north Bengal and Assam.

Meanwhile, the BJP’s Murshidabad MLA Gouri Shankar Ghosh supported party MP Nishikant Dubey’s demand for a UT by incorporating parts of Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Taking a different stance, senior BJP leader and LoP Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said his party does not support the “division” of the state. “Division of Bengal is not our party’s stand,” Adhikari told media persons outside the Assembly after Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the BJP over the remarks made by its MPs calling for making north Bengal a part of the Northeast.

“It is true that north Bengal is tremendously deprived. This (TMC) government has to ensure the development of north Bengal. They should set up AIIMS and an IIT-like institution in north Bengal. The BJP supports the demand of the people of north Bengal who don’t want to come to Kolkata for their work. Their administrative work should be done in north Bengal itself,” said Adhikari.

Earlier on Monday, speaking in the Assembly, CM Banerjee opposed “divisive statements” of the BJP leaders. “Four (Union) ministers spoke about the division of north Bengal. I condemn it. Come to divide Bengal, I will show you how to stop it,” an angry Banerjee said. “The issue of partition is brought up only after the election is over. One person says, break Murshidabad-Malda. Someone is saying, do something new with the three districts of Assam. Someone is again asking to merge north Bengal with Northeast states,” she said.

Sources in the BJP said the party has “no clear-cut strategy for Bengal unlike other states”. “The BJP central leadership wants holistic development for Bengal. But the party fell short of expectations in the elections. Therefore, the leaders are not sure how to proceed with plans for the state,” said a senior state party leader.

He said the statements on separate statehood made by various state BJP leaders reflected the “central leadership’s tendency to experiment with Bengal”. “People will assume that Bengal appears like a Frankenstein for carrying out experiments. This will further alienate us from the people of Bengal. If we continue to make such statements, we will lose further ground in the state. Suvendu Adhikari has rightly pointed out what should be our party’s stand regarding Bengal. We don’t want any division of Bengal,” said the BJP leader.

Meanwhile, the TMC continues to criticise the BJP for demanding the division of Bengal after every election. “Whenever they lose an election they make such cries. After the 2021 Assembly polls, their leaders said north Bengal should be made into a separate state or Union Territory, because they won maximum seats from there. After Lok Sabha polls, they are making the same demand. In reality, BJP leaders have lost their mind and cannot digest their loss in Bengal. When you can’t capture a state, you try to destabilise it. That is what BJP is trying to do here, but they will be unsuccessful,” said senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh.