BJP legislator from West Bengal highlighted that the call made by BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey for establishing a new union territory encompassing Malda, Murshidabad, Araria, Kishanganj, Katihar districts, and the Santhal Parganas region is not a novel proposition.
According to Gouri Sankar Ghosh, the BJP representative from Murshidabad Assembly constituency, he had previously advocated for this very idea in August 2022.
Ghosh noted that on August 2, 2022, he submitted a formal request to the President, Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, and West Bengal Governor in response to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's announcement regarding the division of Murshidabad into three separate districts and the removal of the historic name "Murshidabad."
Ghosh explained that his earlier call for creating a new Union territory has now been echoed by Nishikant Dubey in the Lok Sabha. He had previously raised concerns about illegal infiltration in Malda and Murshidabad, which he believed posed a national security threat. Ghosh accused anti-India forces of encouraging such illegal immigration from Bangladesh through these regions and criticized the local administration for its inaction. At that time, he had proposed the creation of a new Union Territory, separating parts of Bihar, Malda, and Murshidabad, to address the issue.
With Dubey now raising a similar demand in Parliament, Ghosh was optimistic that the Union Home Ministry would take the proposal seriously. In recent elections, Ghosh contested for the Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat but lost. The Trinamool Congress has claimed that all these demands from the BJP members point to an underlying motive of dividend West Bengal.
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