Bengal Assembly passes motion opposing attempt to divide state :BJP calls it political stunt

 BJP MLAs said the content of the motion was "unclear". 

PTI, February 20, 202, Kolkata: The West Bengal assembly on Monday passed a motion against any attempt to divide the state, with the BJP dubbing the move as a “political stunt”.

The motion, however, came even as BJP’s MLA from Kurseong Bishnu Prasad Sharma demanded that a referendum be held in north Bengal on whether people there would want to be a part of the state any longer.

During voice vote on the motion, the BJP legislative party refrained from participating in it, claiming that the motion’s “content is unclear”. The party’s leader Suvendu Adhikari however, called the move a “political stunt” ahead of the rural polls.

Introducing the motion, TMC MLA Satyajit Barman claimed “certain forces” are trying to divide Bengal and harm its culture and heritage “Let me tell this House that we will lay down our lives but never allow the division of West Bengal. The BJP and its leaders are trying to divide the state for their vested interests,” senior TMC minister Firhad Hakim asserted.

Echoing him, another TMC minister, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, said leaders cutting across political lines should come together to develop north Bengal, instead of trying to divide the state.

“The TMC government has ushered in a lot of development in north Bengal, be it in the healthcare sector or education sector. The TMC government has also provided crores of rupees to Gorkhaland Territorial Administration,” he pointed out.

The passage of the motion comes in the backdrop of Darjeeling hill staring at the possibility of renewed demand for Gorkhaland after Hamro Party’s Ajoy Edwards, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supremo Bimal Gurung and Binay Tamang, who recently left the TMC to return to GJM, joined hands.

Adhikari, the leader of opposition, however, called the move a “political stunt” with an eye on the rural polls.

“Why is TMC bringing in this motion? What is the need for it as there is no such demand or movement seeking division of Bengal? This is just a political stunt by the BJP ahead of rural polls. In North Bengal, the TMC is not on a strong wicket, and that is they are pulling off this political stunt,” he said.

Adhikari also said, “we are neither opposing this motion nor supporting it as the content and the motive of the motion is unclear”.

Sharma, who had in the past demanded separation of Darjeeling hills from the state, said, “Instead of trying to perform a political stunt by seeking to know the BJP or TMC stand, a referendum should be held in north Bengal region to find out what people there want,” he said.

BJP MLA from Siliguri Shankar Ghosh said the TMC, to hide its failures, is trying to divert attention from the problems of the region.

“Instead of understanding the pain of the people of north Bengal, the TMC is trying to divert attention by carrying out a political stunt. The lack of development has led to the birth of these demands,” he said.

North Bengal, with its eight districts including picturesque Darjeeling, is economically important for West Bengal as it houses the money-minting tea, timber and tourism industries.

The place is strategically vital for the country as it includes the Siliguri corridor, commonly known as ‘chicken’s neck’, a strip of land sandwiched between China and Bhutan to the north and Bangladesh on the south, connecting mainland India with the northeastern states.

The Darjeeling-Kurseong districts have in the past witnessed violent statehood movements since the early 1980s. There have also been sporadic demands for a ‘kamtapuri’ state formed out of Cooch Behar district.

The Gorkhaland stir claimed over 1,200 lives and culminated in 1988 with the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which governed the hills with a certain degree of autonomy till 2011.

More bouts of protests were also witnessed later, the last being in 2017.

BJP’s Alipurduar MP John Barla and legislators of Matigara-Naxalbari and Dabgram-Phulbari seats, Anandamay Barman Shikha Chatterjee respectively have in the past demanded that a Union territory be carved out of North Bengal districts.

The TMC has reacted to these attempts by accusing the BJP of trying to fan separatism in the state, though the saffron party has officially denied any move to carve out separate states.