“BJP and its prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi are big only on electronic and print media, but in
reality their effect, especially in East India and Bengal, is equal to
zero,” TMC candidate for Darjeeling Bhaichung Bhutia said during a
meeting here today. Bhutia was reacting to the reports of Modi’s visit
to Khaprial near Siliguri on April 10 for a party meeting.
He said India is a democratic country
and accordingly one can visit and conduct party meetings for election
anywhere, but the impact of the meeting on voters will not be as big as
they have anticipated. Slamming the GJM-supported BJP candidate SS
Alhuwalia, he said, “Alhuwalia claims himself to be the son of soil, but
I will leave politics if he eats local food items like Kineema, Churpi
and Gundruk.”
He said he took the challenge to fight
in the election for promoting honest politics in the hills and vouched
to become an honest and sincere politician if he is elected to
Parliament. “Be it development or demands of the people, if politics is
not played honestly nothing can be achieved,” he claimed.
He also took a dig on GJM saying the
party has betrayed the people of the hills in the name of Gorkhaland and
development. “The GJM leaders are involved in rampant corruption for
their own personal benefits, leaving the people with nothing but false
promises,” he alleged.
Referring to the last elections, he said
the people of Darjeeling hills supported BJP candidate Jaswant Singh
and helped him win the election with a huge margin, but he did nothing
for the development of the hills. The same is being repeated this time
around and will have the same result if the people blindly support the
BJP candidate, he cautioned.
The TMC candidate also informed about
the RTI filed in Supreme Court regarding the use of MP funds, where it
was learnt that Rs25 crore was sanctioned in the span of five years for
development purposes. “Surprisingly, there is no account of where the
money was used or any major developmental work to show for,” Bhutia
added.He urged the people to vote for him to have an honest and hard
working representative in Parliament. He also promised to use the funds
meant for the development of the Darjeeling hills transparently.
Bhutia also participated in a programme
at the Monteviot Ground in Kurseong, organized by the Darjeeling
Himalaya Karmachari Sangathan, a casual workers organization affiliated
to INTTUC.(EOIC)