KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit north Bengal from September 6-9. This will be her first visit to Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar after assembly polls.
Banerjee is likely to hold an administrative meeting in Uttarkanya, the north Bengal secretariat, and review various ongoing projects and schemes, including the Duare Sarkar programme.
The CM’s proposed schedule follows certain developments in north Bengal politics. The former North Bengal development department minister from Cooch Behar, Rabindranath Ghosh, took charge as North Bengal Development Board (NBDB) chairman in Siliguri on Thursday.
The same day, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) faction chief Anit Thapa tendered his resignation from the party, weeks after Binoy Tamang quit and called on Gorkha leader Bimal Gurung, who had thrown his weight behind the Trinamool government ahead of assembly polls.
Also, the visit is timed immediately after junior Union ministers Nisith Pramanik and John Barla participated in BJP’s Shaheed Samman Yatra in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar.
Political observers are keenly following Trinamool’s recovery plans in Darjeeling, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri, where BJP won most seats despite its poor show in south Bengal. Ghosh’s taking charge as NBDB chairman assumes significance after BJP’s Cooch Behar leader Pramanik was made Union MoS for home affairs. BJP also made Alipurduar MP Barla a junior Union minister, sending out the signal to Adivasis in the Dooars that the party cared for them.
Trinamool sources said Banerjee wanted to break BJP’s support bases in north Bengal by taking it on over fomenting sentiments for a separate north Bengal state. “Oto shoja noi (It is not so easy). We will not allow BJP to divide Bengal. Bengal will remain intact,” the CM had said on Wednesday.
Banerjee might address a public gathering in Jalpaiguri or Alipurduar during her proposed north Bengal visit.
