BJP mantris meet Ananta Maharaj in Modi rally run-up

Cooch Behar/Kolkata: Ahead of PM Narendra Modi's April 5 rally at the Rash Mela grounds in Cooch Behar, two senior Union Cabinet ministers, Bhupender Yadav and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, met Greater Cooch Behar neta and BJP's Rajya Sabha member Ananta Maharaj on Friday.

The Rajbanshi neta, who heads a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples' Association (GCPA), has been vocal against SIR — which resulted in the mass deletion of voters from the community — and directed his criticism at BJP. Sensing this drift, the Mamata Banerjee-led govt awarded him Banga Bibhushan in Feb.


While BJP's Bengal functionaries termed it a courtesy call, the hour-long meeting at Maharaj's residence at Chakchaka, Cooch Behar, is seen as an effort to address his concerns. "We never had any issue with Ananta Maharaj. Friday's meeting was a routine visit prior to the PM's rally. He is our Rajya Sabha member and hails from the same district," said Bapi Goswami, the district general secretary of BJP. Despite Maharaj speaking out against BJP, the party has refrained from criticising him.

Last month, BJP roped in Bangshibadan Barman, another neta of the Greater Cooch Behar movement, and fielded his trusted lieutenants for Sitai and Natabari seats. Barman belongs to a different Rajbanshi faction.

BJP, which has fielded at least three Rajbanshi candidates in Cooch Behar, is trying to consolidate GCPA's influence over the community, a critical voting bloc that makes up an estimated 30% of the population in north Bengal. Maharaj also wields significant clout over Rajbanshis.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP swept all seven north Bengal seats and won 30 out of 54 assembly seats in 2021.

A flagbearer of the Greater Cooch Behar statehood movement, Maharaj was dismissive of BJP's Cooch Behar candidate Nisith Pramanik and Jalpaiguri's Jayanta Roy in the 2024 LS election. Though Roy managed to retain his seat, Pramanik lost to Trinamool.