Kurseong BJP MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma on Thursday slammed the party’s state chief Sukanta Majumdar over his proposal to include north Bengal in the North East Council (NEC) and termed it as an attempt to retain the party’s base in the region, keeping in mind the Assembly elections of 2026.

“It is a utopian thought and is not feasible. Sukanta Majumdar has mooted the proposal to conceal his failure in the recent Lok Sabha polls and retain the BJP’s base in north Bengal as the Assembly elections will be due in a few years. He is simply trying to confuse people,” Sharma said.

“He can think of including north Bengal in the NEC... but that can be done only after the region is separated from Bengal and a separate state or Union territory is created,” the MLA added.

Sharma, who is a proponent of the Gorkhaland state, had often embarrassed BJP leaders through his remarks. The BJP hasn’t, however, taken any step against him.

Samik Bhattacharya, the BJP’s spokesperson in the state, tried to contain the damage because of discordant notes against Majumdar.

“Let me assert that the BJP is determined to keep Bengal’s territory intact. But it is a fact that only a minor portion of the state’s budget is allocated for north Bengal. Further, only a percentage of it is eventually spent in the region,” said Bhattacharya, a Rajya Sabha member.

On Wednesday, Majumdar, who is also a minister of state for education and development of the northeastern region (DONER), posted a video, saying he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and submitted a proposal to him.

“I have submitted a presentation to the PM, requesting him to include north Bengal districts in the NEC. As a part of Bengal, the region can be included in the NEC so that more central funds can be made available to expedite the development of the region,” Majumdar had said.

The NEC, which covers seven states of the Northeast and Sikkim, was set up in 1972.

Since 1998-99, 10 per cent of the annual planned budget of 52 central ministries has been earmarked for the Northeast. In 2023-24, ₹5,892 crore was allocated for the ministry of DONER.

BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Nagen Roy reiterated the Rajbanshi community’s longstanding demand for the Greater Cooch Behar state.

“The Centre should first meet our demand and then, the region can be included in the NEC,” Roy, who heads a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association, said.

Majumdar’s proposal to bring north Bengal under the NEC doesn’t hold ground, opined political researchers.

“There is no earlier instance of only a portion of a state being included in the NEC. There are also administrative constraints,” said Soumen Nag, a researcher based in Siliguri.

With Majumdar rooting for the NEC’s extension to north Bengal and two BJP lawmakers reasserting their demands for separate states, the ruling dispensation of Bengal alleged that the saffron camp was playing the divisive card.

“BJP has always conspired to divide Bengal... they had earlier joined hands with Bimal Gurung. But let us be clear that if the BJP moves ahead with this proposal, it will lose whatever little support it has in northern parts of the state,” said senior TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay.

Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, the Cooch Behar MP, claimed that north Bengal
had developed during Trinamool’s regime.

“There had been huge infrastructure and socio-economic developments in north Bengal. We will not allow further division of Bengal,” said Basunia.

BJP MP seeks UT

Nishikant Dubey, the BJP MP from Godda in Jharkhand, raised the demand for a new Union territory in the Parliament on Thursday.

“We want a Union territory comprising the Malda and Murshidabad districts of Bengal and the districts of Kishanganj, Araria, and Katihar of Bihar. In these districts, the demography is changing faster, and thus, this step is needed,” said Dubey.

TMC leaders have scoffed at his demand. “It seems the BJP has taken a strategy to raise the demand of a Union territory in areas where it has lost at the Lok Sabha polls,” said TMC leader Kunal Ghosh.