Division in BJP over splitting West Bengal into two

Kolkata: The West Bengal unit of BJP seems to be divided over the demand to split the state into two. Some members are backing the idea of carving a separate state out of districts in north Bengal, while others are calling it a "conspiracy".

The BJP's Alipurduars MP and Union Minister John Barla had demanded a state comprising the northern districts. The party's state president Dilip Ghosh backed the sentiment and said that the demand is "not unjust". He also blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "misrule" for the emergence of the demands of separate states, reported The Indian Express.

The demand is to divide West Bengal into north Bengal and the Junglemahal area, which was earlier dominated by Maoists. State BJP chief said that if the people want two different states, the CM has to take responsibility.

A day after Ghosh's statement, senior state leader Rahul Sinha said that a "conspiracy to divide Bengal must not be entertained". He told the media that the party had no stand on the issue. On the occasion of RakshaBandhan, he noted that "Rabindranath Tagore had started RakshaBandhan to protest against the partition of Bengal."

Sinha said that the occasion of RakshaBandhan has political and geographical significance because it is celebrated to keep the province united. He added that there is no national or state-level policy to divide the state.

State minister Firhad Hakim said that the country will be ruined if we start dividing it into smaller pieces. He also drew a parallel between the partition of India and Pakistan after Independence.