The Darjeeling Lok Sabha contest, in which the ruling Trinamool
Congress put up the former Indian football captain, Bhaichung Bhutia,
turned out to be an existential battle for the GJM, which has remained
the strongest political force in the hills since 2007.
Hours after S S Ahluwalia won the seat, GJM president Bimal Gurung
said, “This huge victory proves our full mandate in the Hills, Terai and
Dooars.”
Congratulating the BJP’s prime ministerial
candidate Narendra Modi, Mr. Gurung said, “We will now pursue our dream
of separate State Gorkhaland with him and the BJP.”
“This
victory is a resounding endorsement of Gorkhaland,” the GJM leader
said, quoting from Mr. Modi’s speech at a public rally in Darjeeling
that the “dream of the Gorkha’s is his dream.”
During the election campaign, Mr. Gurung described the polls as “probably the last fight for Gorkhaland”.
Since
the Trinamool is opposed to bifurcation of the State, a victory for its
candidate would have been a huge as a blow to the GJM and its demand
for a State of Gorkhaland from areas carved out of three subdivisions in
Darjeeling hills and in the foothills with significant Gorkha
population.
On the issue of the separate State, Mr
Ahluwalia at a press conference in Siliguri on Saturday reiterated his
earlier stand that his party will “sympathetically examine and
appropriately consider the long-pending demands of the Gorkhas, the
Adivasis and other people of Darjeeling district and Dooars region.”
thehindu