When Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India in 1905, announced the partition of Bengal on religious lines, the decision was met with stiff resistance from a section of people. Bengalis, mainly from the Hindu-dominated western part of the province, alleged that the step was part of the British colonial policy of divide and rule. Among the intellectuals who actively led the protests against the bifurcation was Rabindranath Tagore.

The celebrated bard, in an ode to Mother Bengal, composed a song in support of the resistance against the partition of the state: “Banglar mati, Banglar jol, Banglar baayu, banglar phal, Punyo houk punyo houk, punyo houk hey bhagoban”. Loosely translated, it says this: “The soil of Bengal, the water of Bengal, the air of Bengal, the fruit of Bengal, blessed be them, blessed be them, blessed be them, Oh Lord”. As per historical records, he also initiated a “Raksha Bandhan Utsav” to unite Hindus and Muslims against the division. 

The Raj claimed that the partition was intended to improve administration, with Calcutta being the capital for the western part and Dacca for the east. However, the protesters dubbed it as a ploy to drive a religious wedge among Bengalis. Ultimately, towards the end of 1911, King George V annulled the partition and declared the reunification of the eastern part with the then Bengal Presidency.

Why Few Are Buying The Idea

It’s against this background that the votaries of the “divide Bengal” theory today find themselves facing strong opposition from the people of Bengal, where linguistic and cultural bonds are held above religious beliefs. In fact, the 2024 mandate proved that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has managed to successfully navigate the issue of “outsiders” beyond religious lines. Nonetheless, another division, which led to the formation of East Pakistan amidst widespread bloodshed, went against political prudence. 

The northern parts of Bengal and the western areas lying along the borders of Jharkhand and Odisha have seven Lok Sabha and 49 assembly segments each. Any decision to bifurcate or trifurcate the state may affect the TMC electorally in the remaining 28 Lok Sabha and 196 assembly constituencies spread across the rest of the state.

Sporadic voices for a bifurcation, or trifurcation, have been raised by individuals who find that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done well with voters in the north and southwestern parts of the state. Around half of the dozen seats the BJP has won in Bengal this year are from the north and four from the southwest.

Incidentally, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) too has been working with tribals and other inhabitants of Jangalmahal (the forested areas in the southwestern region of the state) for over two decades, and their work bore fruit for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. However, subsequent internal events – including infighting among some state leaders and their followers – have stagnated its growth. Yet, the party enjoys the status of being the largest opposition in the state.

Two Movements

In north Bengal, separatist movements like the Gorkhaland agitation in the Darjeeling hills and the Kamatapur movement by Koch Rajbongshis of Cooch Behar, have been going on for decades. The Koch Rajbongshis movement – which has always aimed to pressurise the ruling governments in the state – has found the BJP being sympathetic towards it. The party’s leadership has not officially accepted its demands, though a few MPs from north Bengal have expressed open support. 

Undoubtedly, the BJP has enjoyed support in these areas of the state; the party has been winning Darjeeling since the 2009 national election. It also won the Cooch Behar seat for the first time in 2019, though it lost it later, apparently due to the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) rules ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Rajbongshis claim that the rules will allow people who migrated from across the border to continue living on their ancestral land.

The disquiet was again evident when Nagendra Ray, a BJP representative in the Rajya Sabha and staunch advocate of a separate state, reiterated on July 25 the demand for a Greater Cooch Behar state. Ray goes by the name of ‘Ananta Maharaj’ and claims that he is a direct descendent of the erstwhile rulers of the earlier Cooch Behar state. In the Rajya Sabha, he claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured him that he would look into the demand for a separate state and that the Prime Minister too had instructed the Home Ministry regarding that.

Not An Easy Route

But as was the case with Gorkhaland, a separate state for the Koch Rajbongshi community would entail carving out portions of not only Bengal but adjoining states as well. Such an attempt may not sit well with the adjoining northeastern neighbours, where the BJP has been doing well with support from its North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) partners.

Considering the history, a further division of Bengal is thus an idea that may never come to fruition even if it continues to loom over the state. In any case, Mamata Banerjee will try to gain as much political mileage out of the issue as she can ahead of the 2026 assembly election. 

(Jayanta Bhattacharya is a senior journalist writing on polls and politics, conflict, farmer and human interest issues)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Jalpaiguri, West Bengal:

The ruling Trinamool Congress wrested the Dhupguri assembly seat in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Friday from the BJP in a by-election, an Election Commission official said.

TMC candidate Nirmal Chandra Roy, a college professor, won the seat by 4,309 votes. He bagged 97,613 votes, while his nearest rival, BJP’s Tapasi Roy, widow of a CRPF jawan killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2021, got 93,304 votes, he said.

CPI(M) candidate Ishwar Chandra Roy, who was backed by the Congress, was at a distant third spot with 13,758, he added.

Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee described the win as the victory of the common people and congratulated the people of Dhupguri.

She congratulated candidates for defeating the BJP in the by-elections in four seats in various states, saying it was a big win for the INDIA coalition.

The BJP lost in Dumri (Jharkhand), Puthuppally (Kerala), Ghosi (Uttar Pradesh) and Dhupguri, the ECI said.

“Dhupguri is a big win. The seat was with the BJP. It’s a historic victory and I congratulate all the people of Dhupguri. This is a win of the people,” Mamata Banerjee told reporters at the city airport before leaving for New Delhi.

At the national capital, Mamata Banerjee will attend President Droupadi Murmu’s G20 dinner invitation on Saturday.

“I would like to congratulate all those who defeated the BJP to win the bypolls. The BJP has lost four bypolls out of the seven held on September 5. This is a big win for INDIA,” she said.

“I thank the people of Dhupguri for reposing faith in us and voting decisively in our favour in the critical by-election to the Assembly constituency. People in North Bengal have been with us and trust our strategy of growth, inclusiveness and empowerment. Bengal has shown its mandate, and soon INDIA too will show its preference. Jai Bangla!” she posted on X, formerly Twitter.

With this victory, the TMC’s tally went up to 217 in the 294-member assembly. It also enjoys the support of six BJP MLAs, who switched over to the ruling party but are yet to resign from the House.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said the people of Dhupguri embraced politics of development over hatred and bigotry.

“Saluting every AITC worker for their tireless efforts in connecting with the people. We’re committed to leaving no stone unturned in ensuring Dhupguri’s all-round development,” he posted on X.

He had promised to make Dhupguri a sub-division by December this year.

Criticising the state BJP leadership’s failure to fix the organisational gaps for the defeat in the Dhupguri bypoll, party national secretary Anupam Hazra on Friday called for “proper” self-assessment and fixing of the lacunae ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

“I think it is high time that there is proper self-assessment and organisational gaps are fixed ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. We should take measures to fix our lacunae at the earliest,” Hazra told PTI.

Former BJP state president and MP Dilip Ghosh said it was “quite natural” for the party in power in the state to win bypolls.

“But at the same time, we must also have some sort of self-assessment regarding the results,” he said.

State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya, however, said the party will react to the election result later after a thorough discussion within the party.

With its defeat in Dhupguri, the BJP has lost all by-elections since its 2021 assembly polls and the official number of seats of the party in the state assembly has come down to 74 from 77.

Six BJP MLAs have switched to the TMC but are yet to resign.

Holding that an opposition party has only a slender chance to win a by-election, the CPI(M) said it will review the Dhupguri bypoll results and take necessary steps to strengthen its organisation in North Bengal.

CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty claimed that anti-BJP feeling is increasingly gaining strength countrywide.

“An opposition party candidate has only a slender chance to win a bypoll as the ruling party has an advantage,” he said.

Admitting weakness in organisational strength in the assembly constituency, Chakraborty said, “We will review the result and take necessary steps.” CPI(M) candidate Ishwar Chandra Roy received 13,758 votes, around 600 more than what the party got in the seat in 2021 assembly polls.

Senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim alleged that the Congress and the Left campaigned against West Bengal’s ruling party despite being alliance partners in the INDIA bloc, an opposition front formed to take on the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.

“We are against the BJP and have been constantly fighting against them. But the Congress and the Left are fighting and campaigning against us and trying to help the BJP in Bengal,” he said.

The BJP had snatched the seat from the TMC, which it had won twice since 2011, in the 2021 assembly polls.

The bypoll was necessitated owing to the demise of BJP MLA Bishnu Pada Ray.

The counting of votes was held amid tight security on Jalpaiguri campus of North Bengal University.

The polling for the by-election was held on September 5. A voter turnout of 78 per cent was recorded. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)