Representatives of a joint forum floated by a political party and an association which have considerable clout among Rajbanshis took a dig at the Left, Trinamul and the BJP on Thursday and said they would field candidates in all 54 Assembly seats in north Bengal in the 2021 polls.

The Bhumiputra Aikya Mancha, a forum of Kamtapur Progressive Party and Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association, held a public meeting at the Rashmela Ground here and reiterated their support for the NRC but simultaneously opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

“Whether it is Dada, Didi, Neta (leader) or Comrade, none has done any good for us. Now, time has come to teach these people a lesson. All those who are the sons of the soil of north Bengal will join hands and we will field candidates in all 54 Assembly seats of the region. We will ensure that none of the political parties get any seat,” said Bangshibadan Burman, the general secretary of the GCPA.

Crowd at the Rashmela Ground in Cooch Behar on Thursday. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

“We want the NRC in Cooch Behar and north Bengal as a whole. This is because if the NRC is implemented, it would largely help in improving socio-economic conditions of the sons of the soil. Most of them work in other states. Didi might remain silent on the NRC for her political interests but we support it and want the cut-off date to be Mach 25, 1971. But we don’t want the CAA here as it would further affect the original inhabitants. Dada wants to introduce the CAA for political reasons,” he added.

Atul Roy, the president of the KPP, said some more organisations of Rajbanshis would soon join the forum.

“We want to get all original inhabitants of north Bengal under one banner so that we can strive together to achieve our demands. Political parties have only made promises to us. It is time that we give them a reply in the ensuing elections,” said Roy.

Such remarks by Burman and Roy, both of whom are office-bearers in the bodies constituted by the state government for Rajbanshis and Kamtapuris, the language academies and the development & cultural board, left the political parties in a fix.

“This is because such a stand of the Mancha — pro-NRC but anti-CAA — has not left space for any political party to extend support to them or try and address their grievances. On the other hand, no party can ignore the Rajbanshis as their votes decide the results in almost half of the Assembly seats of north Bengal,” said a Trinamul leader.