Kolkata, Aug 24 (PTI) Union minister Nisith Pramanik on Tuesday said the demand of his ministerial colleague John Barla for creation of a union territory comprising districts of north Bengal should be judged by the people of the region.

Also Read | Pune Shocker: 70-Year-Old Woman Found Murdered Almost A Month After She Went Missing; One Arrested.

Also Read | Bihar Panchayat Elections 2021: Dates for 11-Phases of Panchayat Chunav Announced, Check Full Schedule.

Both Pramanik and Barla are BJP MPs from north Bengal, who were inducted into the Union council of ministers in July.

Asked to comment on Barla's views, Pramanik told reporters: "If such demand is raised, it is for the public to judge whether or not it is justified. We must respect the emotion of people."

Barla, who is now the Union minister of state for minority affairs, had in June sought a separate union territory comprising all north Bengal districts, arguing that the region has barely seen any development over the past decade.

"The comments of Barla are his own. But if you ask me, there had not been much development in north Bengal in all these years. As people's representatives, we cannot overlook their sentiments," Pramanik, the minister of state for home affairs, said in Malda.

Pramanik refused to further speak on the issue and sidestepped a question about whether or not he is in favour of further partition of the state post-1947.

Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said the BJP should first decide its stand on the issue as its leaders are making contradictory statements.

"The BJP should clear its official stand on this? That should be clear. The BJP is playing a dirty divisive game after losing the assembly polls. But the people of Bengal will not let that (division of the state) happen," Chatterjee said.

He claimed that lots of development are taking place in north Bengal under the rule of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the BJP is trying to create confusion among people.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, who had earlier asserted that the views of Barla were his own and the BJP was not in favour of it, said last week it would be wrong to call the Alipurduar MP a 'separatist' over the demand as he was just voicing the concerns of people.

Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha on Sunday that the party did not support any division of Bengal.

After Barla raised the demand for a separate Union territory for north Bengal, another state BJP MP Saumitra Khan had sought statehood for Junglemahal comprising hilly forested areas of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia districts.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)