The BJP has long been hearing calls to split West Bengal. Earlier, the party dismissed these voices as “personal opinions” not reflective of its official stance. However, a recent meeting and a demand by a BJP MP suggest the party could be moving closer to this goal.

Union Minister and Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar Wednesday met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested the recognition of eight districts in West Bengal as part of the Northeast, ending with Sikkim.

After the meeting, Majumdar said he handed over a proposal to the PM on why North Bengal should be considered a part of the Northeast. “If he accepts my proposal, this backward area of Bengal will get more funds from the Centre. I am of the opinion that the state government will cooperate,” he said, according to reports.

This meeting signals more than just a routine discussion; it points towards a potential future BJP endorsement of the state’s bifurcation. Sources reveal that the prime minister spent nearly half an hour with Majumdar.

Majumdar’s role as the Minister of State for the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region adds weight to his proposal. Majumdar, who hails from the Balurghat constituency in North Bengal, is also the West Bengal BJP president. In the past, he dismissed calls for a separate North Bengal by BJP MPs as “personal opinions.”

While Majumdar may argue his proposal does not equate to bifurcation, the TMC has called it “anti-constitutional.”

Senior TMC MP Sukhendu Shekhar Roy slammed Sukanta Majumdar saying he took an oath to uphold the Constitution, but his demand contradicts the Constitution because “there is no entity called North Bengal in India”. He clarified that the eight districts he refers to are integral parts of West Bengal, colloquially called North Bengal for convenience. Roy accused the BJP of attempting to “split the state” after failing to defeat the TMC electorally.

Another BJP MP, Anant Maharaj, pushed for declaring a part of North Bengal, which he calls Greater Cooch Behar, as a Union Territory. Maharaj leads the ‘Greater Coochbehar Peoples Association,’ which has advocated for this change since 2015.

Maharaj’s influence over the Rajbangshi community adds complexity to the issue. BJP’s Nishith Pramanik lost his seat in Cooch Behar by 39,250 votes in the recent Lok Sabha election, a defeat attributed to Maharaj withholding support. This loss marked the only seat in North Bengal the BJP failed to retain from its 2019 tally.

Earlier, former minister John Barla, originally from Jalpaiguri, has also called for a separate Gorkhaland, which includes Darjeeling and some surrounding areas. In 2021, Barla, then the BJP MP from Alipurduar, raised the demand for a separate state for North Bengal, extending beyond Gorkhaland, aligning with Majumdar’s push for inclusion in the Northeast.

After being appointed as Amit Shah’s deputy, Nishith Pramanik echoed similar views but stopped short of demanding a separate state.