The Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party (GCBDP) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

based in the northern regions of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The party advocates for the creation of a separate state, termed Greater Cooch Behar. It was established in 2006 following a split from the Greater Cooch Behar People's Association (GCPA).

History

The GCBDP was formed when internal disagreements led to a division within the GCPA. Ashutosh Barma became the president of the newly formed party. Bangshibadan Barman, who was the general secretary of the GCPA and incarcerated at the time, chose to support the GCBDP during the split and joined the party.

Alliances

The GCBDP has collaborated with the Kamtapur Progressive Party, which also seeks the creation of a separate

Kamtapur Kamtapur is an autonomous area in the Assam state of India administered by the Kamatapur Autonomous Council. History Kamatapur emerged as a sovereign state in the middle of the 13th century, and it continued through fluctuating levels of prosp ...

state. An alliance among three regional parties, including GCBDP and the Kamtapur Progressive Party, was announced in March 2008. Despite potential territorial overlaps in their respective statehood demands, the parties agreed to put such issues aside to focus on cooperative efforts.

Hunger strike

In June 2008, the GCBDP staged a fast-unto-death

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

demanding the release of Bangshibadan Barman and 55 other activists who had been arrested during a 2005 GCPA event. The protest was called off on 9 June 2008 following discussions with senior administrative officials.

2009 Lok Sabha election

In the

2009 Indian general election General elections were held in India in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009 to elect the members of the fifteenth Lok Sabha. With a registered electorate of 716 million and a turnout of 417 million voters, it was the l ...

, the GCBDP fielded Bangshibadan Barman as its candidate for the

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), also known as Koch Bihar, is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal and it stands on bank of the Torsa river. The city is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. During the British Raj, Cooch Behar was the seat of the ...

constituency. Barman became the first undertrial prisoner in West Bengal to file nomination papers for a parliamentary election. He received 37,226 votes, accounting for 3.3% of the total votes in the constituency.

References

{{Reflist Political parties in West Bengal Political parties established in 2006 2006 establishments in West Bengal Cooch Behar district Politics of Cooch Behar district

History

Alliances

Hunger strike

2009 Lok Sabha election

See also

References