Eyeing Rajbanshi vote bank in 2024 LS polls, BJP nominates Ananta Rai Maharaj as head of CGPA for its Bengal RS seat

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Rajbanshi vote bank ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, BJP has nominated Ananta Rai Maharaj, the head of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association (CGPA) movement, for its Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal. Ananta Rai Maharaj today filed nomination in the presence of BJP State President Sukanta Majumdar and other saffron party MLAs at state assembly in Kolkata. After filing his nomination at the state assembly, Ananta Rai Maharaj said, “I am proud that I have been given the opportunity to go to the Rajya Sabha.

I will work for the development of the state.” Asked about the Greater Coochbehar movement,he refused to comment. Ananta Rai Maharaj is the head of a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association (GCPA), which has been demanding a separate Cooch Behar state comprising parts of North Bengal. Maharaj holds sway over the Rajbanchi community which will play a major role in the coming Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

A scheduled caste group, Rajbanshi community in North Bengal, is mostly found in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, and North and South Dinajpur. They also have presence in Assam, Bihar and Meghalaya. “We are proud that we are sending him to Rajya Sabha, which is the Upper House of the Parliament.

He will take up the issues about suffering of the people of Bengal as he has always done,” State BJP President Sukanta Majumdar, who was in the assembly during the filing of nomination, said. From Union Home Minister Amit Shah to top leadership in Trinamool Congress, all have tried to woo the Rajbanshi community and met Ananta Rai Maharaj during their visit to Coochbehar. Ananta Maharaj had extended his support to the BJP in North Bengal in 2021 assembly polls, where BJP won 30 out of the 54 seats.