Kolkata, May 23 (PTI) Days after several BJP lawmakers demanded that the northern districts of West Bengal be separated as a Union territory, saffron party MP Saumitra Khan on Monday renewed his demand for carving out a state of ‘Junglemahal’ from the southwestern districts of the state.
He demanded that the districts of Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Birbhum and Paschim Bardhaman in South Bengal be carved out as a separate state. This was the second time in the last two months that he demanded a separate state for the Junglemahal region.
Lashing out at the TMC government for the “lack of development” of the densely forested former Maoist hotbed Junglemahal region, Khan said the time has come for separating the area from West Bengal.
“We also live in West Bengal but where is the development of these areas? What are we getting in the name of progress? Why won’t the people of this region demand a separate state?” the two-time MP from the Bishnupur parliamentary seat in Bankura said.
Khan, who had switched over to the saffron party from the TMC ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, said, “Just like how the people of North Bengal have started thinking about separation, the residents of Junglemahal should also demand a separate state.” His comment drew a sharp reaction from the TMC, which said such statements only reflect the saffron camp’s divisive politics.
“The BJP has been trying to fan separatism and is plotting to divide West Bengal for political gains. But we will never allow that to happen. I wonder whether Saumitra Khan is aware of what he is demanding,” senior TMC MLA Tapas Ray said.
Earlier this month, BJP legislators from Matigara-Naxalbari and Dabgram-Phulbari constituencies, Anandamay Barman and Shikha Chatterjee respectively, spoke in favour of Union territory of North Bengal.
Last year, BJP MLA from Kurseong in North Bengal, Bishnu Prasad Sharma, had demanded the separation of Darjeeling Hills from West Bengal.
The party’s Alipurduar MP John Barla had stirred the hornet’s nest last year by demanding Union territory of North Bengal. PTI PNT ACD ACD
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