The signs of a new push for bifurcation of West Bengal are evident. The demand from various activist groups in North Bengal districts got a fillip with the BJP state leadership “justifying” the demand two days ago. This could pose a new headache to the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government and to the Centre as well. The “justification” for the demand came from BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh who stated in Jalpaiguri that the “neglect” of the region and failure of the Trinamool Congress government to bring about development led to the revival of demands for bifurcation of the state. His allegation was also that successive governments neglected the developmental aspirations of the people of West Bengal and the northern region in the seven decades of Independence. The problem with West Bengal is the huge concentration of its growth in Kolkata, per se, which is making it difficult for other regions to develop. West Bengal, thus, is among the least urbanized states. Most of the industries and job-opportunities are Kolkata-specific.
The violent agitation by the Darjeeling Hill people for a Gorkhaland state in the 1980s ended up with the formation of an autonomous Hill Council there. It could not help meet the aspirations of the region’s people. Yet, the movement led by Subhash Ghising eventually died down. Now, other players from the northern districts are also seeking a separate state with the inclusion of some districts of Assam. This is bound to raise problems for the central government and the BJP as well, as the party is ruling Assam too. At the same time, the BJP will be game targeting Mamata Banerjee and her highly successful Trinamool Congress after the major drubbing they gave to the saffron party in the state assembly polls. It is important that a nation must ensure development of all regions and states should do this as well. In the Indian context, the eastern region as a whole remains under-developed. There are some significant efforts at present to develop the North-East as in the attempt to spread the railway network and strengthen the national highways. Development is a long process and cannot be achieved in a short spell. At the same time, West Bengal and other states cannot escape from the responsibility of reaching out to various regions rather than concentrating fully on state capitals. In fact, in the new developmental mode, Tier-2 cities are favoured by entrepreneurs to set up units because of the relatively lower costs for land and other infrastructural requirements.
