BJP makes tall claims before elections to befool people: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

Alipurduar: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday made a scathing attack against the BJP saying that the saffron party makes tall claims before elections that fizzle out the moment polls are over. The Trinamool Congress chief said this while addressing a gathering in Alipurduar. She added that “BJP promises separate state, welfare schemes ahead of polls to befool people.”

The West Bengal CM had on Tuesday alleged that the saffron party had been indirectly patronizing separatist group, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), to create tension in north Bengal and separate the region from the state.

Mamata Banerjee’s attack came just a day after a message from KLO was released asking the Chief Minister not to dare to step into the territories of the proposed Kamtapur state.

"Some leaders are threatening to kill me if I resist attempts to separate north Bengal from the state. If you have the courage, point your guns towards me. I know how to blunt your weapons," the Chief Minister said while addressing a public rally in Alipurduar district in north Bengal on Tuesday afternoon.

The Chief Minister also alleged that there is a direct connection between BJP and the separatist groups in North Bengal. "Some BJP leaders, like the separatist groups, often speak of separating North Bengal from the state. I am ready to sacrifice my blood and resist such separatist attempts," she said.

Incidentally, Alipurdar and its adjacent Jalpaiguri district had been a weak point of Trinamool Congress since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when BJP candidates emerged victorious from both the constituencies in these two districts. 

In the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls too, despite bagging a landslide victory, Trinamool Congress performed poorly in both these districts by winning in only three out of 12 assembly constituencies in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri.

For quite some time several BJP elected representatives from North Bengal, including the party Lok Sabha member from Alipurduar, John Barla, had called for the separation of north Bengal from the state for better development in the region.

In the meantime, Jeevan Singh-led KLO too has started a movement to demand separate Kamtapur out of Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur districts in the northern part of West Bengal, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara districts in Assam, Kishanganj district in Bihar and Jhapa district in Nepal.