Kamtapur People's Party (KPP) is a

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

working in the northern parts of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. KPP was founded in January 1996 by Atul Roy. KPP works amongst the Rajbanshi population. KPP demands the set up 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 and recognition of the dialect of the Rajbanshi/Rajbongshi/Kamatapuri as a separate language. The student wing of KPP is the All Kamtapur Students Union. The women's wing is called Kamtapur Women's Rights Forum.

History

Ahead of the 2001

assembly elections, KPP joined the

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...

-led

Bangla Bachao Front Bangla Bachao Front (Save Bengal Front), a front of opposition parties contesting the 2001 West Bengal legislative assembly elections. The front was led by All India Trinamool Congress and also included Bharatiya Janata Party, the Jharkhand Party, ...

. In spring 2003, KPP suffered an internal division. Atul Roy, considered as a moderate, was dethroned and replaced by a more hardline leadership. Nikhil Roy became the new president of KPP and the general secretary was Subhas Burman. Atul Roy remained a member of the central committee. Ahead of the 2004

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

elections, KPP formed a front together with

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ( lit. ''Jharkhand Liberation Front''; JMM) is a State political party in the Indian state of Jharkhand which was founded by Binod Bihari Mahato. It has one seat in the 17th Lok Sabha. Shibu Soren is the president of th ...

. In 2006, Atul Roy broke away from Kamtapur People's Party to form a new party called the Kamtapur Progressive Party. However, Atul Roy and Nikhil Roy decided to end their dispute in October 2010 and Atul merged his party with Kamtapur People's Party. There is only one Kamtapur People's Party today. Atul Roy is the president of the party and Nikhil Roy is the general secretary.

References

External links

A documentary on the demand of statehood of Kamtapur
1996 establishments in West Bengal Member parties of the National Democratic Alliance Political parties established in 1996 Political parties in West Bengal {{India-party-stub