The Teesta river, which meanders through the hills and the plains of north Bengal before entering Bangladesh, is emerging as an important political issue ahead of the Assembly elections after remaining a matter of discussion in the diplomatic circles in New Delhi and Dhaka for around a decade.

The trigger behind Teesta’s inclusion in the domestic political matrix is a recent meeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi held with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina where the sharing of water of the Teesta, an agreement on the subject is pending since 2011 because of the opposition of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, came up after Dhaka prodded Delhi for an immediate resolution.

Several BJP leaders in north Bengal said in private they would make Teesta an issue and blame the Trinamul government for the delay in sealing a deal on sharing of water, which apparently strained bilateral relation.

The Trinamul leaders, on the other hand, will try to reach out to the rural population of the region with the message that they had put the interests of the farmers of north Bengal ahead of other considerations.

Sreerupa Mitra Choudhury, a state vice-president of BJP’s Kishan Morcha, said the Trinamul leadership was simply trying to play politics over the issue.

“For the central government, farmers of north Bengal are the first priority but reluctance of the Trinamul government has made this issue an area of contention between the two countries. We doubt whether the state has any proper data to confirm its point that the portion of water that north Bengal will receive as per the proposed treaty is inadequate,” she said.

The BJP leaders think the issue will give them political dividends in north Bengal because of a number of reasons.

One of the major reasons, a source said, is the presence of a considerable section of voters who have roots in Bangladesh. Besides, bilateral trade is carried out through multiple borders of north Bengal because of which there is a connection between people on both sides of the border.

Chandan Bhowmik, a district coordinator of Trinamul in Jalpaiguri and a senior party leader, when mentioned about the issue, said their stand would continue to be the same.

“If the Centre wants to go ahead with it, there would be protests. Also, as we are meeting people these days, we are elaborating on the issue that it is because of Mamata Banerjee that the region has not faced any crisis because of paucity of water in the Teesta,” said Bhowmik.

Several Trinamul leaders said opposing the water treaty would help them at a time New Delhi was aggressively trying to push the deal.