TMC, BJP MPs spar over Union minister's remark to bring north Bengal under DoNER ministry

New Delhi, Jul 25 (PTI) A day after Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said he has proposed the inclusion of northern West Bengal under the Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) ministry, the TMC MPs called it a separatist move which cannot be implemented while their BJP counterparts defended it.

Majumdar, who is also the West Bengal BJP chief, on Wednesday said he has proposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the inclusion of northern West Bengal under the DoNER ministry for the development of the region.

In a video statement issued on Wednesday, the Union minister of state for DoNER said he met the prime minister and proposed that as north Bengal shares similarities with the Northeast, it could be included in the Northeast under the ministry while still being part of West Bengal.

Asked about the minister's remarks, TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said Bengal will "never be divided".

"Bengal will never be divided. Long ago, a demand was raised for Gorkhaland... People of West Bengal protested against it," Bandyopadhyay said.

"Sukanta Majumdar should remember (that) people of Bengal will not tolerate such demand. If they talk this way, just as the CPI(M) and Congress became zero, BJP will also become zero in Bengal," he said.

TMC MP from Asansol, Shatrughan Sinha, said the BJP does not have the numbers to implement such a decision.

"This is for the sake of talking. They neither have the capacity nor vision. Tomorrow they will say we will divide Andhra or Tamil Nadu," Sinha said.

"They could not do it when they had 303 (MPs in Lok Sabha). Now it is not even Modi government. It's NDA government. They have 240 MPs (and) opposition has similar numbers," he said.

BJP MP Anant Maharaj agreed with Majumdar and said the inclusion of the area was "unconstitutional".

"He (Majumdar) is right. North Bengal, which is called Greater Coochbehar, should be joined with the northeastern zone," Maharaj said.

"This is not about dividing West Bengal. North Bengal was never West Bengal.

"It was merged into West Bengal. It was an unconstitutional activity... It should be reset and as soon as possible Greater Coochbehar should be made a Union territory," he said.

Darjeeling MP Raju Bista of the BJP also backed the demand and said the move will help in development of the region.

"The TMC can only criticise. I think his statement was not wrong. Whether CPI(M) or the present day TMC government, they have only fooled north Bengal," Bista said.

He said north Bengal collects huge amounts of taxes but its resources are getting destroyed. The region contributes more than 20 per cent of revenue of Bengal but the three crore people of north Bengal feel betrayed, he said.

"Our culture and traditions are similar to the North-East, whether it is food or clothing. If it becomes a part of North-East and development happens, people's issues are resolved. I think there is nothing wrong," he said.

"There was a time (West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee used to propose this and say Bengal is not being made a part of NEC (North-eastern Corridor). It is a valid demand... It is a strategically important area and it is not good for the country if it remains backward," he said. PTI AO AO KSS KSS