TMC to bring resolution in Assembly against ‘attempts to divide Bengal’

Kolkata: A day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted on the floor of the state Assembly that her government will resist all attempts to divide Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced bringing a resolution opposing the division of Bengal.

The decision was taken at the Business Advisory (BA) committee meeting in the chamber of Speaker Biman Banerjee at the assembly on Tuesday.

“It is painful to see that few members of BJP from the state, and also outside the state, are demanding division of Bengal. However, some other BJP members are claiming they do not want it. There is a difference in opinion among the BJP. We want the BJP legislators to voice their opinion on this issue on the assembly floor. We are bringing a resolution on Monday (August 5) under Rule 185 to expose the conspiracy of BJP as a whole and at the same time deliver a message to the people of Bengal to unite against the saffron party’s divisive politics,” said state Parliamentary Affairs Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay.

BJP’s Lok Sabha member from Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey has been demanding the formation of a new Union Territory by bifurcating certain districts of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal while Union minister and state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar had proposed that North Bengal be included in the Northeastern Council. “The people of Bengal have been rejecting the BJP in elections. Hence, they are trying to sow the seeds of polarisation. The people of the state will resist such attempts,” Chattopadhyay said.

The fact that a resolution will be brought in the Assembly became evident on Monday when Banerjee, who is the leader of the House, said: “In a democracy, people will have the last word. Let it be discussed in the Assembly and a resolution can be prepared in this regard. Let the judgement be taken in the Assembly. Those who are making such statements outside bypassing the Assembly, are anti-Bengal.”

Condemning the statement of the four (Union) ministers who spoke on the division of North Bengal, the Chief Minister had said, “The issue of partition was brought up only after the election was over. One person says break Murshidabad-Malda, the other is saying, do something new with the three districts of Assam. Someone else is again asking to merge North Bengal with North East states.” Interestingly, soon after Banerjee’s statement, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said his party doesn’t support the “division” of the state. “Division of Bengal is not our party’s stand,” he added.