Barla again rakes up demand for separate North Bengal despite party warning

    Jalpaiguri/Kolkata (WB), Jun 23 (PTI) BJP MP John
Barla Wednesday again raked up a controversial demand seeking
a separate union territory comprising North Bengal districts,
despite his party cautioning against such statements.
    The Alipurduar MP alleged that people who voted for
the BJP were being denied ration and 100-days work under the
job guarantee scheme.
    "In order to escape from such atrocities, I raised the
demand for North Bengal to be declared union territory," he
said.
    "I will take this matter up with Delhi (leadership),"
he told reporters at his Lakshmipara tea garden residence in
Jalpaiguri, surrounded by people who claimed they were
sheltering there from attacks by Trinamool Congress
supporters.
    In a jolt to the BJP, the party's Alipurduar district
president, Ganga Prasad Sharma along with seven other local
BJP leaders, joined the TMC on Monday.
    Barla however claimed that nine members of Kumargram
panchayat and a zilla parishad member from Alipurduar district
have taken shelter at his residence along with their family
members after being pressured to leave the BJP and join TMC.
    Denying the allegation, the TMC district leadership
said having won the recent assembly elections with a huge
majority, it does not require people from BJP to join the
ruling party.
    Reacting to Barla's repeated outbursts demanding that
North Bengal be declared a separate union territory, BJP state
president Dilip Ghosh said "everyone has to go by the party
line," while at the same time stating there is space for
personal opinions in the party.
    "Democracy cannot flourish by gagging people," he
said.
    Accusing the BJP of adopting a duplicitous policy, TMC
spokesperson Kunal Ghosh alleged the saffron party is trying
to create unrest in the state.
    "It is not clear whether the BJP wants these leaders
to stop making such statements or continue with their diatribe
on dividing West Bengal," he said.
    Days after Barla first made known his demand for a
separate North Bengal union territory, BJP's Bishnupur MP
Saumitra Khan stoked a fresh controversy by demanding a
separate state by carving out districts of Junglemahal and
other areas in South Bengal. This happened despite the BJP
West Bengal unit on Tuesday cautioning party members against
violating the party line
    "Some of our leaders may have made those comments in
their own capacity. It has nothing to do with our party line
or opinion, which is against any form of division of
Bengal..., everybody has to toe the party line as a loyal
soldier of the party. Violation of party line won't be
tolerated," the BJP state president has said. PTI AMR
JRC JRC

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)