BJP MLAs from North Bengal voice demand for separate UT

Several BJP MLAs in North Bengal voiced the demand for a separate union territory carved out of the region, an issue raised by Union Minister John Barla.

According to sources in the saffron party, the development took place at a recent meeting of BJP MLAs from the region at Siliguri.

They further revealed that since the BJP performed well in North Bengal in the last Assembly election, Barla raised the demand of forming a separate union territory.

“ However, party leaders from South Bengal have publicly opposed the demand,” they said. State BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu, MP Locket Chatterjee and State president Dilip Ghosh have openly opposed the demand. However, Ghosh had changed his stand over the issue a couple of times.

According to BJP insiders, during the meeting, each MLA was asked about his or her opinion on the demand of curving a separate union territory out of North Bengal. They said that all the MLAs accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of “neglecting” North Bengal.

“The MLAs said that only forming a union territory or a separate state can resolve the issues of North Bengal,” a senior state BJP leader said. He also said that out of the 30 BJP MLAs in the region 25 were present in the meeting.

Following the meeting, BJP’s national spokesperson and Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said, “The demand of the people of North Bengal is that the region has been deprived and hence a separate union territory or state has to be formed.”

The demand first raised by Barla has drawn sharp criticism from the TMC which accused the BJP of trying to bifurcate West Bengal after it failed to come to power in the State in the last Assembly elections. The TMC has vowed to stop any such attempt.