Why are BJP leaders talking about partitioning Bengal?

The proposals to reconfigure the state are designed to decouple the rest of the state from South Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress is strong, experts said.

Aug 1, 2024 - 07:30

Why are BJP leaders talking about partitioning Bengal?

Over the past week, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have suggested a trifurcation of West Bengal. Incorporate North Bengal into India’s North East region. Carve out Greater Cooch Behar as a separate state. Merge Malda and Murshidabad districts with parts of Bihar and Jharkhand to form a separate Union territory.

Why are BJP leaders suddenly talking about restructuring West Bengal? After the party won only 12 of the 42 seats it contested in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and with Assembly elections not due for another couple of years, the Hindutva party is trying to consolidate its presence in North Bengal, where it has a stronger presence than the rest of the state, experts say.

However, these demands put the Hindutva party in dangerous territory, awakening traumatic memories of previous partitions of Bengal – in 1905 and 1947.

In addition, these demands have caused some confusion within the BJP. While some leaders are floating demands to reconfigure the state in various ways, others have expressed their opposition to these suggestions.

As the BJP struggles to establish its relevance in West Bengal, observers say, these plans are among the several balloons the party is floating in the hope that one of them will fly.