Bangshi Badan Barman
Bangshi Badan Barman is an Indian politician who has been a leading figure in the Greater Cooch Behar movement. He completed a Bengali Honours degree at Dinhata College in 1992 and was a member of the Students Federation of India during his student days.
In 1998, the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association (GCPA) was formed to push for a separate Greater Cooch Behar state. Barman became the General Secretary of the GCPA.
He was arrested after riots in Cooch Behar on 20 September 2005. Five people were killed in the clashes—three policemen (including an additional superintendent of police) and two pro-Greater Cooch Behar supporters—while the GCPA was protesting and erecting barricades.
When the GCPA split in 2006, Barman joined the breakaway Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party (GCBDP). In June 2008, the GCBDP organized a fast-unto-death demanding the release of Barman and 55 other followers arrested in 2005. The fast was called off on 9 June 2008 after talks with senior administration officials.
In April 2009, the Calcutta High Court rejected his bail plea. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, GCBDP named Barman as its candidate in the Cooch Behar constituency. He became the first undertrial prisoner to file nomination papers for a West Bengal parliamentary election, running as an independent. He received 37,226 votes (about 3.3% of the total).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:18 (CET).