Sikha Chatterjee. File
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from north Bengal on Thursday (February 20, 2025) raised the demand for a separate State for the region.
“People of north Bengal are deprived day after day. The demand of the people from the region is to either develop or let us live separately,” BJP MLA Sikha Chatterjee told journalists in the State Assembly.
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Ms. Chatterjee, who is an MLA from Dabgram Phulbari Assembly seat in Jalpaiguri district, said that as a representative of the people, she will have to raise what the people think. “We are the representatives of the people. What the people say, it needs to be conveyed here [in the Assembly],” the BJP MLA said. She also said that there are several issues in the region including river erosion but the State government is not looking into it.
The MLA had raised the demand of creation of a separate State while participating in a discussion on the State Budget. Trinamool Congress leader and State Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay dismissed the demand, stating that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that there will be no division of the State. The Minister added that projects and initiatives of the Trinamool Congress have had a positive impact on the people of the State, making it unlikely for the BJP legislators to win seats in north Bengal.
The demand for a separate State to be carved out of territories of north Bengal has been a recurring political issue, with BJP legislators from the region raising the issue time and again. The West Bengal BJP leadership, however, does not back its own legislators when they raise the issue. The BJP has relatively stronger public support in north Bengal than in the southern part of the State and a majority of its MLAs and MPs in the past have been elected from the region.
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said the party does not want any division of West Bengal, which was created by the efforts of Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The party, however, is sensitive to developmental concerns of the people of the region, he added.
In another development, a notice of breach of privilege was issued by the Trinamool Congress legislators against BJP MLA Hiran Chatterjee for his comments alleging that the State government has received a ‘SKOCH’ Award in exchange for money. Citing a CAG report and an RTI response by activist Biswanath Goswami, the BJP MLA had alleged during his address on the State’s Budget that the government had paid for the award.
The notice was issued by State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, who demanded that Mr. Chatterjee should provide documents to support his claims. The BJP MLA responded, saying he will provide a written reply with all the evidence he has.
Published – February 21, 2025 08:26 am IST