Rajbanshi vote split on cards in north

TT, 20 Mar 2019, Jalpaiguri/ Cooch Behar: Political parties and organisations espousing the cause of the Rajbanshis in north Bengal have taken different stand on coming general election, raising the possibility of a split in the community's votes.

The Kamtapur Progressive Party, a faction of the parent Kamtapur Peoples' Party headed by Atul Roy, is inclined towards the BJP. On February 8, Roy was seen at a public meeting of Narendra Modi in the Maynaguri block of Jalpaiguri, where he had expressed support for the BJP and slammed Trinamul.

Roy, who was the vicechairman of Kamtapur Bhasa Academy, had resigned last year, alleging delay on the part of the state government in introducing Kamtapuri language as a medium of instruction at primary schools.

"I have quit the academy as it failed to meet our demand. We have decided that whoever agrees to meet our demand for national recognition of the language will get our support. We will make our stand clear in a couple of days," he said.

Leaders of the other faction, Kamtapur Peoples' Party (United), however, decided to field Independents in all eight seats in north Bengal.

"We will not tie up with any party and will field candidates in all eight Lok Sabha seats. They will be in fray demanding constitutional recognition of the Kamtapuri language," said Subal Roy, the general secretary of the faction.

The Rajbanshis constitute eight to 10 per cent of the total electorate in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri seats.

The community has presence in the Siliguri sub-division, parts of North and South Dinajpur districts. Observers said the community's votes might split if the parties take different stand..