Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday bestowed the Bangabibhushan — Bengal’s highest civilian award — on Nagendra Roy aka Ananta Maharaj, a BJP Rajya Sabha member from Cooch Behar, for his contribution to the Rajbanshi community.

The award was presented at an event in Calcutta to mark the International Mother Language Day, where Ananta was the first recipient to be honoured.

“It gives us pleasure to give Ananta Maharaj this award for his role in propagating Rajbanshi language and culture. We want him to continue working for the Rajbanshi community and society at large,” Mamata said, while outlining her government’s initiatives for the community.

In his brief address, Ananta thanked the chief minister and recited a poem on Shukladhwaj, popularly known as Chila Roy, the valiant prince of the erstwhile Cooch Behar royal family.

“Chila Roy had called for the revival of our identity and the conservation of our heritage. He had emphasised on social awakening among the people,” Ananta said while reciting the poem.

The government’s decision to honour Ananta has triggered political ripples in north Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections.

“He (Ananta) was never on good terms with the BJP leadership in Cooch Behar and had alleged that he was sidelined. Now that he has received this award with appreciation from the chief minister, questions are being raised about whether he might shift his political allegiance,” said a senior political observer
in Siliguri.

Some analysts viewed the felicitation as a strategic move by the ruling Trinamool Congress to consolidate Rajbanshi votes.

They pointed out that in June 2024, the chief minister had visited Ananta’s residence, after which the two were believed to share cordial relations.

“Ananta Maharaj heads a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association (GCPA), which advocates the separate Greater Cooch Behar state. It appears that Trinamool intends to leverage its influence over the Rajbanshi community to secure Assembly seats in north Bengal,” said a political commentator.

In north Bengal, the Rajbanshi community plays a decisive role in around 22 of the region’s 54 Assembly seats. In 2021, the BJP won most of these constituencies.

Ananta’s felicitation appears to have irked Bangshibadan Barman, who heads another faction of the GCPA and has long been considered Trinamool’s ally.

Barman, chairman of the state-formed Rajbanshi Development and Cultural Board, said: “It was the chief minister’s decision. But while claims are being made that he (Ananta) has done a lot for the Rajbanshi community, we hardly find any significant contribution on his part.”

Contacted, Ananta thanked the chief minister.

“I thank the chief minister. It is a great honour for me on the International Mother Language Day. I am working on two more books which will be published soon,”
he said.

The Trinamool leadership in the Cooch Behar district offered mixed reactions. While district chairman Girindranath Barman said the decision of the award rested with the chief minister, senior party leader and former minister Rabindranath Ghosh welcomed it.

“Ananta Maharaj is a talented person and has worked for the Rajbanshi community. The chief minister has taken the right call,” Ghosh said.

The leader of the Opposition and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari, addressing a news conference in his Nandigram constituency, expressed confidence in the Rajbanshi community backing the BJP.

“We are confident that the Rajbanshi community will not take any step during the Assembly elections that could affect the interests of Hindus. We had sent him (Ananta) to the Rajya Sabha as a social leader, and it was entirely his personal decision to attend the event (of the Bengal government). But let me reiterate that they (Trinamool) need not think about the Rajbanshis,” Adhikari said.

Additional reporting by Main Uddin Chisti in Cooch Behar