Siliguri, 20 May: At a time when both the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM)
and the All India Gorkha League (AIGL) are claiming that the Gorkha Jan
Mukti Morcha (GJMM) will not be able to fulfill the Gorkhaland dream,
the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) will be keeping a tab on the
GJMM-BJP promise and see if the two parties can deliver on the Hill
people’s statehood demand.
The president of the Darjeeling Hill-based CPRM, RB Rai said the GJMM will not be able to coax the BJP into fulfilling the people’s aspiration for Gorkhaland.
“The BJP will instead be able to manage the GJMM leaders by giving them other things diplomatically. The question here arises, how will the GJMM tackle chief minister Mamata Banerjee on this issue,” Mr Rai said over telephone.
Mr Rai is suffering from several health problems and is on bed rest over the past few weeks.
AIGL vice-president Laxman Pradhan echoed Mr Rai and said: “How will the GJMM demand Gorkhaland from the BJP when the matter was not mentioned in the latter’s election manifesto? The BJP may not invite trouble like Telangana by creating a tiny state in West Bengal.”
According to him, Miss Banerjee will not cooperate with the GJMM on this issue after her candidate Bhaichung Bhutia lost to the GJMM-backed BJP candidate in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
“Bhutia got fewer votes in the Hills because Miss Banerjee, during her poll campaigning, argued against a separate state,” Mr Pradhan added.
On the other hand, GNLF leader Mahendra Chhetri said: “Let the GJMM bring Gorkhaland from the BJP. We will be waiting for this achievement. It is now possible for the GJMM to demand Gorkhaland because the BJP is in power in the Centre.”
“We will wait and watch the situation and how both the GJMM and the BJP act on this issue. My party will formulate strategies on the basis of the developments on the issue,”
Mr Chhetri said, adding, “A separate state of Gorkhaland is not possible without the Sixth Schedule status in the Hills. We will be meeting BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, who had recommended the Sixth Schedule status for the Hills, as the BJP has come to power with absolute majority.”
Notably, the newly-elected Darjeeling MP, SS Ahluwalia, before leaving for Delhi on 17 May, reiterated: “My party will sympathetically examine and consider the long-pending demands of the Hill people.”
Mr Ahluwalia also said his party will also examine and consider social and language problems of the Adivasi people and others, including the Kamtapuris in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency and its
adjoining areas.
Meanwhile, GJMM chief Bimal Gurung, in his Facebook post, declared that he attended a meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament on Tuesday, where Narendra Modi was officially declared as the next Prime
Minister.
“The GJMM is now an alliance of the BJP in the NDA. The GJMM delegation will camp in Delhi till the oath taking of Narendra Modi as the PM on 26 May.”
“The GJMM delegation will also meet prominent NDA leaders including Mr Modi. The delegation will apprise Mr Modi of the Gorkhaland issue and the political situation in Darjeeling Hills,” Mr Gurung said.(Sns)
The president of the Darjeeling Hill-based CPRM, RB Rai said the GJMM will not be able to coax the BJP into fulfilling the people’s aspiration for Gorkhaland.
“The BJP will instead be able to manage the GJMM leaders by giving them other things diplomatically. The question here arises, how will the GJMM tackle chief minister Mamata Banerjee on this issue,” Mr Rai said over telephone.
Mr Rai is suffering from several health problems and is on bed rest over the past few weeks.
AIGL vice-president Laxman Pradhan echoed Mr Rai and said: “How will the GJMM demand Gorkhaland from the BJP when the matter was not mentioned in the latter’s election manifesto? The BJP may not invite trouble like Telangana by creating a tiny state in West Bengal.”
According to him, Miss Banerjee will not cooperate with the GJMM on this issue after her candidate Bhaichung Bhutia lost to the GJMM-backed BJP candidate in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
“Bhutia got fewer votes in the Hills because Miss Banerjee, during her poll campaigning, argued against a separate state,” Mr Pradhan added.
On the other hand, GNLF leader Mahendra Chhetri said: “Let the GJMM bring Gorkhaland from the BJP. We will be waiting for this achievement. It is now possible for the GJMM to demand Gorkhaland because the BJP is in power in the Centre.”
“We will wait and watch the situation and how both the GJMM and the BJP act on this issue. My party will formulate strategies on the basis of the developments on the issue,”
Mr Chhetri said, adding, “A separate state of Gorkhaland is not possible without the Sixth Schedule status in the Hills. We will be meeting BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, who had recommended the Sixth Schedule status for the Hills, as the BJP has come to power with absolute majority.”
Notably, the newly-elected Darjeeling MP, SS Ahluwalia, before leaving for Delhi on 17 May, reiterated: “My party will sympathetically examine and consider the long-pending demands of the Hill people.”
Mr Ahluwalia also said his party will also examine and consider social and language problems of the Adivasi people and others, including the Kamtapuris in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency and its
adjoining areas.
Meanwhile, GJMM chief Bimal Gurung, in his Facebook post, declared that he attended a meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament on Tuesday, where Narendra Modi was officially declared as the next Prime
Minister.
“The GJMM is now an alliance of the BJP in the NDA. The GJMM delegation will camp in Delhi till the oath taking of Narendra Modi as the PM on 26 May.”
“The GJMM delegation will also meet prominent NDA leaders including Mr Modi. The delegation will apprise Mr Modi of the Gorkhaland issue and the political situation in Darjeeling Hills,” Mr Gurung said.(Sns)