Political realignments in North Bengal as Bansi & Arghya Roy Pradhan join BJP

Cooch Behar: The political landscape in North Bengal, particularly in Cooch Behar district, is witnessing a shift following the entry of Greater Cooch Behar leader Bansi Badan Barman into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and support extended by former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Arghya Roy Pradhan to the BJP.

At the BJP’s state headquarters in Kolkata on Tuesday, Pradhan formally left the All India Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP in the presence of state president Samik Bhattacharya and senior leader Suvendu Adhikari.

Barman—one of the key faces of the Greater Cooch Behar movement—also announced his support for the BJP at the same event. The movement itself remains divided between factions led by Ananta Maharaj and Barman.

Barman, who currently serves as chairman of the state’s Rajbanshi Development Board, is considered an influential figure in the region.

Sources indicate that he has sought five Assembly seats from the BJP—Hemtabad and Karandighi in North Dinajpur, along with Cooch Behar South, Natabari, and Sitai—signalling a possible recalibration of electoral equations. Pradhan, former MLA from Tufanganj (2011) and Mekhliganj (2016), was denied party tickets in both 2021 and the upcoming 2026 elections.

In 2016, he defeated Paresh Chandra Adhikari, now a Trinamool leader.

Explaining his decision, Pradhan alleged corruption against Adhikari and said the party could have chosen another candidate, which prompted

his exit. Reacting to the development, Trinamool leader Udayan Guha dismissed the move, stating that Pradhan defected solely due to being denied a ticket—something he claimed the public clearly understands.