The Bengal government has reconstituted the advisory committee that runs the Rajbanshi Bhasha Academy and removed Bangshibadan Barman from the post of the panel’s chairman.

Barman had been the chairperson of the committee for around six years. He also heads a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association (GCPA) and is a proponent of the separate Cooch Behar state.

In a notification issued by the department of information and cultural affairs on March 13, principal secretary Santanu Basu said a new 15-member committee was formed for the academy.

After assuming the chief minister’s office, Mamata Banerjee formed the academy to preserve and propagate the Rajbanshi language. Later, she also announced the formation of Kamtapuri Bhasha Academy. Kamtapuri is a derivative of the Rajbanshi language.

Barman, however, will continue as the chairman of the Rajbanshi Development and Cultural Board which was also created by the Trinamool Congress government.

Harihar Das, a former BJP leader and a schoolteacher, has been made the new chairperson of the advisory committee.

“Harihar Das is known to be close to Nagen Roy aka Ananta Maharaj, who heads the other faction of the GCPA and is also a Rajya Sabha member of the BJP. This hints that the TMC wants to draw the support of Roy and his followers, particularly at a time when the MP is aggrieved with a section of BJP leaders, especially in Cooch Behar district,” said a political observer.

Both Maharaj and Barman are based in Cooch Behar.

Rajbanshi academics Girija Shankar Roy, Dipak Kumar Roy and Sablu Barman are among the new members of the committee.

In the past few months, Barman raised the old demand for a separate Cooch Behar state, which didn’t go down well with the TMC that is against the further division of Bengal. Some Trinamool leaders asked how Barman could raise the demand while holding a state government post.

“The removal of Barman from the chairman’s post shows that the TMC is not happy with him. At the same time, as the Assembly elections are ahead, the party doesn’t want to antagonise him. That is why Barman continues to remain as the chairman of the Rajbanshi board. He has a considerable support base among the Rajbanshi population,” said an observer.

In 2021, the BJP had won seven of nine Assembly seats in Cooch Behar district. The remaining two went to Trinamool. The support of the Rajbanshi population was one of the main reasons for the BJP’s performance in the district.

“As Nagen Roy is fuming against the BJP now, the TMC wants to strike a balance to ensure the support of both the factions of the GCPA,” the observer said.

On Thursday, Harihar Das, the new chairperson, spoke to newspersons in Cooch Behar.

“I have some plans for the development of the Rajbanshi language. I will consult with other members of the committee to prepare a roadmap,” he said.

In the notification, Purnaprava Barman, a woman TMC leader of Jalpaiguri who had died a couple of years back, was named as a member of the new advisory committee. “The matter has come to our notice. We have contacted the authorities concerned and they will carry out the necessary correction,” said Das.

Girindranath Barman, the Cooch Behar district chairman of the TMC, who was also inducted into the committee, said: “We hope the new committee under the leadership of the new chairperson will work for the improvement of the Rajbanshi language.”

Asked about his removal from the post of the committee’s chairman, Bangshibadan said: “I got a call from the state government and was told that I could be in only one post. So, I decided to leave the academy and continue as the board’s chairman.”