Mamata Banerjee: Will shed my blood but never allow division of West Bengal

ALIPURDUAR: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that she was ready to shed her own blood, if need be, to thwart any attempts to divide West Bengal.
Lashing out at the BJP "for trying to fan separatism" in the state, ahead of the general election in 2024, the TMC chief maintained that all communities in north Bengal had been living in harmony for decades.
"With elections approaching, the BJP is fanning the demands of separate statehood... sometimes seeking Gorkhaland, and at other times a separate state of North Bengal. I am ready to give my blood but will never allow division of the state," Banerjee said, addressing a party meeting here.
In an apparent reference to a purported video by Kamtapur Liberation Organisation leader Jeevan Singha, threatening Banerjee of "bloodbath" if she opposed the demand for a separate Kamtapur, the fiesty TMC boss said such threats do not intimidate her.
"Some people are threatening me, I don't care. I am not afraid of such threats," she added.
(With inputs from PTI)