KLO chief urges Rajbanshi community to vote out TMC in 2026, revives statehood rhetoric

Kolkata, Nov 13 Kamtapur Liberation Organisation chief Jeevan Singh, who remains underground, released a video message on Thursday urging members of the Rajbanshi community to take a decisive role in defeating the Trinamool Congress regime in West Bengal’s upcoming assembly elections next year.

In the video message, circulated among sections of the media, the KLO chief also appealed to sitting TMC legislators and Members of Parliament to immediately sever ties with the state's ruling party and take the lead in bringing an end to the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal.

IANS, however, could not independently verify the video's authenticity.

“Stop working against the Rajbanshi people for this government. Leave the party,” Singh was heard saying in the video message circulated among sections of the media.

Notably, the Rajbanshi community holds significant influence in several constituencies across North Bengal districts, where the Bharatiya Janata Party has been enjoying greater electoral success than the Trinamool Congress since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

This is not the first time Singh has released such a message against the Trinamool from an undisclosed location.

Ahead of the three-tier panchayat elections in West Bengal in 2023, he had issued a similar video appeal urging members of the Rajbanshi community to vote against Trinamool Congress candidates in the rural polls.

He claimed that the West Bengal Chief Minister had consistently opposed the creation of a separate Kamtapur state and that leaders of the ruling party were responsible for the oppression of the Rajbanshi people to suppress the statehood movement.

The KLO’s proposed Kamtapur state is envisioned to be formed from Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Malda, North Dinajpur, and South Dinajpur districts of northern West Bengal; Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, and Goalpara districts of Assam; Kishanganj district of Bihar; and Jhapa district of Nepal.

The KLO, which was formed in December 1985, has in the past engaged in armed movements in pursuit of this demand.

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