Shankar Ghosh, the BJP MLA of Siliguri, has accused the Trinamool-led state government of depriving the residents of north Bengal while referring to the state budget of the 2025-26 fiscal tabled in the Assembly earlier this month.
“The state government has been consistently depriving the north Bengal region. Even in the recent budget, there is no major allocation of funds for the improvement of healthcare, education, civic services and infrastructure in it, even though it (the state government) collects thousands of crores from the region as revenue,” Ghosh said at a news meet here on Monday afternoon.
“The time has come for the people of north Bengal to decide whether they would accept the leaders and ministers from Calcutta who visit the region to make teas and momos, instead of being sincere for their development,” he added, referring to chief minister Mamata Banerjee's past hill visits in which she made tea and momos.
Ghosh is the second BJP legislator from north Bengal who recently raised his voice on "deprivation".
Last week, Sikha Chatterjee, the BJP MLA of the Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly seat (which covers a portion of Siliguri), had raised the demand for a separate north Bengal state in the Assembly, saying the state government "should either expedite development or else separate north Bengal".
Her remarks went against the BJP’s party line as in August last year, when the TMC tabled a resolution in the Assembly against any further division of Bengal, the BJP MLAs had supported the resolution.
However, Chatterjee had said that she articulated what her voters wanted. “I cannot disregard their opinion and have to flag at the platform (Assembly) concerned,” she had said.
In north Bengal, the BJP MLAs and MPs have time and again faced criticism from the ruling dispensation of the state that they do not raise appropriate issues related to the region and the state before the central government andits ministers.
Shankar, while speaking on the issue, took the task to toss the same question at the TMC MLAs, including those who are from north Bengal and are in thestate Cabinet.
“The TMC MLAs and ministers who are from this region remain mum when they attend the Assembly or meetings of the state Cabinet to save their seats. They could not muster the courage to raise issues before the cabinet or before the state ministers and seek funds for this region,” said Shankar, who is also BJP’s chief whip in the Assembly.
At the news conference, he was also critical of the status of the infrastructure of the universities that have come up in north Bengal since 2011, that is, ever since the Mamata government assumed power.
“Universities have come up in Alipurduar, South Dinajpur, and the Darjeeling hills. However, there is hardly any infrastructure, and also the absence of adequate faculty members and administrative officers. So far, the state government has not taken any step to develop any major infrastructure for sports in north Bengal,” said Ghosh.
Such criticism by the BJP MLA has made the TMCleaders react.
“He (Ghosh) does not have any connection with the people for months. Now, as the Assembly polls are ahead, he is trying to rake up baseless issues. People across north Bengal are well aware of the sincerity of chief minister Mamata Banerjee who has taken a slew of measures for the development of this region,” said Vedabrata Dutta, the TMC spokesperson of Darjeeling (plains).