PATNA, March 8 -- Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai on Saturday dismissed speculations that some districts of Bihar and Bengal would be merged to create a new Union Territory (UT). The debate over creating a new UT comprising Seemanchal and parts of West Bengal intensified following the recent visit of union home minister Amit Shah to Bihar. Shah spent three days in Seemanchal to review security in view of the area's strategic importance due to its proximity to international borders. Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, there were also speculations linking it with polls, though there has been no official announcement in this regard from the government. A new UT can be created only through an Act of Parliament with a simple majority, but during the just-concluded session there was no such Bill introduced. Rai, who is MP from Ujiarpur parliamentary constituency, came out with a post on the social media, rubbishing the claim of Independent MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, saying that there is no plan by the central government and there is no truth in it. "It is totally contrary to the facts that there is any plan to carve out some districts from Bihar and West Bengal to form a UT. Nobody should take the tweet of Pappu Yadav seriously," said Rai. Pappu Yadav had on Friday alleged that Bihar chief minister Kumar's decision to move to Rajya Sabha, and the appointment of Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, as the new governor, was part of the BJP's game-plan to create a UT comprising Seemanchal region and West Bengal's Muslim dominated districts of Malda, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur. Rai termed the tweet of the Purnia MP as misleading and said that Yadav's words had no credibility. "I want to point out again that there is no plan to merge some districts of Bihar and West Bengal into UT," he added. Since the visit of Union home minister Amit Shah last month to Seemanchal, apprehensions have been spread among the minority community people of the region regarding the UT move to put the region under central rule. Currently, there are eight Union territories in the country which include Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry, as per an official data. Seemanchal comprises four north-eastern districts of Bihar - Purnia, Araria, Kishnaganj and Katihar -- which have significant Muslim population. Muslims account for some 67.70% of the total population in Kishanganj, 43% in Katihar, 40% in Araria and 38% in Purnia. Malda and North Dinajpur also hold significant political significance due to their demographic composition. Malda, where Muslims form a majority in several constituencies, has historically been a major center of Muslim cultural and political life, dating back to medieval Bengal....