The Trinamul Congress announced on Monday that the party would hold a rally in Cooch Behar on September 6 against the division of Bengal in the wake of a statement by Rajbanhsi leader Ananta Maharaj that Cooch Behar would soon become a separate state.

Ananta, who heads a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association (GCPA), had said on Sunday: “Cooch Behar was an independent nation and we were not a slave to anyone. I would like to say one thing that Cooch Behar will soon become a state. The Indian government will have to make this part of the country a Union territory.” He made the statement in the presence of Cooch Behar BJP MP and Union minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik. Ananta’s assertion has drawn flak from various communities in Assam also.

“He (Ananta) is again hobnobbing with BJP leaders and is raking up the issue to keep himself afloat in politics. He spoke on Cooch Behar’s separation for years and even a section of his supporters is disillusioned with the commitments. That seems to be one of the reasons for his fresh statement,” said a senior Trinamul functionary in Cooch Behar.

Trinamul pointed out that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had attended an event hosted by Ananta in Cooch Behar six months back. “Ananta’s double standards are clear now. Earlier, he was appreciative of the chief minister. But again, he started tilting towards the saffron camp. Even the other faction of the GCPA doesn’t take his remarks at face value. We will convene a rally here on September 6 against the demand for a separate state. We will prove how many people are with us,” said Girindranath Barman, the Cooch Behar district chairman of Trinamul.

Bangshibadan Barman, who heads the other faction of the GCPA, said his lobby didn’t attach importance to Ananta’s statement that Cooch Behar would soon become a separate state.

“Our organisation has been working for the people of the region for years and will continue to do so,” said Barman, who is also the chairman of Rajbanshi Bhasa Academy and Rajbanshi development board, both of which have been constituted by the Mamata Banerjee government.

North Bengal development minister and Dinhata Trinamul MLA Udayan Guha said: “We will shed blood but will not let the state be divided. We are not ready to sit idle here and watch.” Ananta’s statement has come under fire from leaders of Bodo, Rabha and Mech communities in the neighbouring state of Assam. The GCPA leader had said the separate Cooch Behar state would encompass portions of lower Assam like Dhubri, Bongaigaon, North Salmara and Goalpara.

“People here are not ready to part with an inch of land and will continue to be in Assam. No attempt should be made to include us in the Union territory or the state he is talking about,” said Tankeshwar Rabha, a senior member of the Rabha community in Assam.