Kolkata, Denying the charge of trying to divide West Bengal, the BJP today said the party was only in favour of lending ear to any demand raised within the constitutional framework.
”We are not dividing Bengal…our party feels that if anybody raises any demand within the framework of Indian constitution, they should be heard,” BJP’s national spokesperson S S Ahluwalia told reporters here.
Alleging that North Bengal was being neglected for long, Mr Ahluwalia said many groups were spearheading movements on various demands. ”But nobody is bothered about it,” he said.
”North Bengal was neglected for long. Many groups are spearheading movements and no one is bothered about it,” he said.
Mr Ahluwalia said the BJP would also sympathetically consider the demand of the Rajbansis, living in parts of North Bengal, for inclusion of Kamtapuri language in the eighth schedule of the constitution, if the party was voted to power.
The BJP came in for CPI(M) flak for fielding Mr Jaswant Singh as its candidate from Darjeeling with support from the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha(GJM), a hill outfit, spearheading the movement for a separate Gorkhaland. The party, in its election manifesto, also promised to look into the statehood demand ’sympathetically’.
Describing BJP’s stand as ‘highly opportunistic and unprincipled’, CPI(M) General Sevetary Prakash Karat recently said the party would have to regret the decision in future.
The CPI(M)-led ruling Left Front has also charged up a campaign alleging that the BJP was extending support to those, out to divide the state.