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Mamata Banerjee lashes out at BJP, says will never allow Bengal’s division
She said this at a rally at Alipurduar in north Bengal amid demands from some BJP leaders for a separate state encompassing north Bengal districts
Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she will never allow a separate state to be carved out of West Bengal while lashing out at the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The BJP goes around saying it will divide Bengal. I am ready to give my blood but I would not allow this,” she said at a political rally at Alipurduar in north Bengal amid demands from some BJP leaders for a separate state encompassing north Bengal districts. BJP’s state leadership has distanced itself from the demand.
The security of Banerjee, who is camping in north Bengal and holding political and administrative meetings in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts, was tightened after a video purportedly showing Jiban Singha, the absconding chief of the banned Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), making a fresh demand for a separate state and threatening her surfaced on Sunday.
“Some leaders are threatening me that if I do not allow the separate state to be formed out of north Bengal, then they will me. I tell them if you have the guts point your gun at me. I have seen much of this. So, do not threat me. I know how to make your guns blunt. All this is happening because of BJP’s support. Whenever an election approaches, BJP raises the demand of a separate state,” said Banerjee. “I felt sad when the BJP won all the seats in north Bengal by making some false promises. But never in my life would I misunderstand you. It is because that is your right. What has the BJP done till date except for rising prices...,” she said.
In the 2021 assembly polls, BJP bagged 30 of the 54 seats in the eight north Bengal districts even as TMC swept back to power. TMC won 213 of the state’s 294 seats while BJP overall managed 77. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP bagged 18 of the state’s 42 seats. In north Bengal, it secured seven of the eight seats.
BJP leader Rahul Sinha said his party has never done separatist politics. “The organisation which she is referring to was nurtured by her. The Left gave them birth and they were nurtured by Mamata Banerjee. If anyone is trying to wash away militancy, it is the Narendra Modi-led government.”
