Rajbanshi community leader Nagendra Ray, also known as Ananta Maharaj, who became the first BJP MP from West Bengal to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha last year, was visited by West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee at his residence in Cooch Behar on Tuesday.
The Rajbanshi community is the largest Scheduled Caste group in West Bengal, accounting for over 18 per cent of the state's 21.4 million Scheduled Caste population as per the 2011 census. This community has substantial electoral influence across 20 Assembly segments in five districts of north Bengal, including Cooch Behar and Alipurduars, areas where the BJP has historically performed well, especially in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
Despite this, former Union Minister Nisith Pramanik, who was a BJP candidate from Cooch Behar, was defeated by TMC's Jagadish Chandra Basunia in the recent Lok Sabha elections. This loss marked a significant shift as it allowed the TMC to secure a foothold in the region north of the Malda Dakshin seat, an area previously dominated by the BJP.
The meeting between Mamata Banerjee and Ananta Maharaj has stirred interest, but the state BJP has yet to comment on it. Maharaj himself remained enigmatic about the implications of this meeting, stating, "Let's see what happens in future," as quoted by the news agency PTI.
