Mamata Banerjee on Monday said in the Assembly that Trinamul would resist all attempts to divide Bengal in a veiled warning to the saffron camp in the wake of contentious comments made by BJP lawmakers.
The Bengal chief minister brought up the recent remarks by BJP MLAs lawmakers that resurrected the division controversy and accused the BJP of doing "okaaj" (useless acts or mischief) instead of "kaaj" (work).
"There is the part about north Bengal. Their emotions run high, and that's justified. They were deprived, neglected, shamed... Whenever elections approach, there are questions of division. As soon as the elections go, only the division remains as an issue," said Mamata.
"Some saying add north Bengal (to the North Eastern Council), others are saying Malda-Murshidabad and parts of Bihar should be turned into a Union Territory, some advising focus to ensure that a certain section of people do not at all remain, while some others are saying things about Cooch Behar and Assam... many kinds of conspiracy," she added. "Hadn't seen this happen so much before the BJP came to power. They forgot how to work. They only do okaaj instead of kaaj, and malign Bengal."
Mamata was referring to the disputed proposals floated by the likes of junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar and the BJP's Godda MP Nishikant Dubey.
"Whenever elections are upon us, the BJP talks about dividing Bengal. 'Vote in favour of Gorkhaland', or 'in favour north Bengal's statehood', or 'separation of Rajbangshis'... of Kamtapuris, of tribals, of minorities," the chief minister said.
Balurghat MP Majumdar — also the junior Union minister for development of the Northeastern region and the party's Bengal unit chief — claimed to have submitted the proposal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inclusion of north Bengal in the North Eastern Council. The BJP’s Jalpaiguri MP Jayanta Kumar Roy threw his weight behind the proposal.
BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Nagendra Roy and its Kurseong MLA B.P. Sharma have reiterated their statehood demands. Others, such as Maldaha MLA Gopal Chandra Saha, backed them.
The BJP's Behrampore MLA Subrata Maitra and Murshidabad MLA Gouri Sankar Ghosh backed Godda MP Dubey after he proposed a six-district (Muslim majority) Union Territory including Bengal’s Malda and Murshidabad.
In the saffron echo chambers, there have been outlandish demands that include a trifurcation of the state — culling out parts of Bengal that voted in favour of the saffron camp and giving them separate BJP-led governments.
Underscoring the development initiatives undertaken in north Bengal by her government at a cost of ₹1.64 lakh crore, advised caution to the BJP.
"Just because something has to be said, you will say anything? Just because you have the power, you will cut up with knives? This cannot happen," she said.
"The people are the greatest court in a democracy. There cannot be any question on division. There should be a resolution against Bongo bhongo (breaking Bengal)," she said.
