Without elaborating on BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar’s proposal to bring north Bengal districts under North East states, Adhikari said: “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, 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 work related to the administration should be done in North Bengal itself,” Adhikari said.
“Our stand is very clear. Stop the exodus of Hindus. The (state) government has to identify illegal immigrants. Rohingya immigrants should be pushed back. The state government should provide land to BSF to fence the border with Bangladesh,” Adhikari added.
Earlier in the day, speaking in the Assembly, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recalled the statements made by Sukanta Majumdar, who is also the state BJP chief, and other BJP MPs and dared them to do so.
“The 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 chief minister 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 North East states,” the CM said.
On July 24, Majumdar had 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 that 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 had said, 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, BJP’s Murshidabad MLA Gouri Shankar Ghosh supported party MP Nishikant Dubey’s demand for a Union Territory, including parts of Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
Highlighting alleged “infiltration” from Bangladesh, Dubey demanded in Parliament a separate Union Territory. Ghosh supported Dubey saying, “Infiltration is high in Murshidabad, which is a threat to national security,” adding that the district should be part of a Union Territory. Ghosh also said that a similar appeal was made by him in a letter to the Union Home Ministry in 2022.