BJP names Ananta Maharaj as its Rajya Sabha candidate, TMC says bid to fan separatism

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

BJP has offered him a Rajya Sabha ticket after a meeting with Union MoS for Home Nisith Pramanik. «I am happy that they have chosen me. I will try to serve the people of the state and my region,» Ananta Rai told reporters after the news broke of his nomination by the BJP through a party notification from Delhi Wednesday morning.

Six Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal will go to the polls on July 24; a by-poll will also be held in another seat from the state. Rai heads one of the GCPA factions, demanding that a separate state or union territory be carved out of northern West Bengal. He is believed to have considerable say among the Rajbanshi community of the North Bengal region, estimated to account for nearly 30percentt of the electorate in the area.

The community is one of the biggest SC communities of the state after Matuas in South Bengal. «We believe in taking all the communities along and moving forward to the development path. We believe in the ideals of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas, '» BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.

Reacting to his nomination, TMC MP and spokesperson Santanu Sen said, «This only proves that BJP fans separatist movement in the state». «We have been saying for a long time that the BJP is fanning a separatist movement in North Bengal and wants to divide the state. This development only proves the point.

BJP should clearly say whether they want division of the state or not,» he said. According to political analysts, the Rajbanshis are an important electoral factor in four out of the eight Lok Sabha seats in North Bengal. The BJP, in 2019, had bagged seven out of these eight parliamentary seats.