Is Mr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee a household name in West Bengal now?
As BJP government is formed in Bengal in May 2026, the people of Bengal should remember the contribution of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in education, freedom movement and state formation, not just the fact that he formed Jana Sangh which ultimately became political party BJP. On 20 June 1947, the 58 people who voted for the formation of West Bengal in the Bengal Legislative Assembly were all Hindus. And those 21 who voted for Pakistan that day were from the Muslim community. On June 20, 1947, the Bengali Legislative Council met to determine the future of Bengal Province where it was proposed to form a united Bengal between India or Pakistan or divided into East Bengal and West Bengal respectively as a home for Bengali Muslims and Bengali Hindus. In the initial joint session, the council decided by 120-90 that if Bengal joined the new Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, it would remain united or undivided. Later, a separate meeting of West Bengal legislators decided by a vote of 58–21 tha...