'I am ready to give my blood but won't allow division of West Bengal': Mamata Banerjee

'I am ready to give my blood but will never allow division of the state', West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remarked on Tuesday. Amid demands for Bengal to be carved out as a 'separate state', Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to 'fan separatism' ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo maintained that all communities in north Bengal had been living in harmony for decades, and would continue to do so.

"With elections approaching, the BJP is fanning the demands of separate statehood... sometimes seeking Gorkhaland, and at other times a separate state of North Bengal. I am ready to give my blood but will never allow division of the state," Banerjee said, addressing a party meeting here.

KLO chief's video sends ripples

The West Bengal Chief Minister's fiery statement comes in the aftermath of a video released by separatist group Kamtapur Liberation Organisation’s (KLO) chief Jibon Singha. In the video, the KLO chief dubbed the West Bengal government as a 'bahirgata' (outsider), however, it was the mention of three BJP MPs that fueled the controversy. Jibon Singha claimed that Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik, Jalpaiguri MP Jayanta Roy and Alipurduar MP John Barla were 'supporters' of the separate Koch-Kamtapur state.

Issuing her response to the purported video by Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, threatening Banerjee of "bloodbath" if she opposed the demand for a separate Kamtapur, the TMC chief declared said such threats do not intimidate her. "Some people are threatening me, I don't care. I am not afraid of such threats," she added.

Since its inception in 1995, KLO has been demanding a separate Kamtapur state carved out from certain districts of north Bengal and lower Assam-- areas that were earlier under the Cooch Behar kingdom. Although it is largely inactive on the ground, the video released ahead of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to north Bengal was seen as a direct threat to the state.

Earlier, similar demands had been raised by BJP's Bishnupur MP Saumitra Khan for West Bengal’s Jangalmahal area (comprising the districts of Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, and Jhargram) to be granted statehood. The Bankura MP had addressed a press conference at the party’s district headquarters where he said that Birbhum and Paschim Bardhaman district’s Asansol sub-division should be also included in this separate state. The MP had also hit out at the state government for neglecting the region where Maoists once held power and claimed that if a separate state is created, then people here will get better service.

(With agency inputs)