The Gorkha National Liberation Front and the Bimal Gurung faction of
the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha have come together to back the BJP in the Lok
Sabha elections, saying “Gorkhaland is much more important than
individual aspirations”.
The GNLF and the Morcha were always
bitter rivals in the Darjeeling politics. After Bimal Gurung had formed
the Morcha in 2007, the GNLF was reduced to a minor political entity in
the hills and its supreme leader Subash Ghisingh was forced to flee to
the plains.
With the Bengal government slapping several cases on
Morcha president Gurung and general secretary Roshan Giri in connection
with the violent agitation for the statehood in 2017, the two have been
keeping away from the hills. The control of the party in the meantime
was seized by Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa who now claim to be the
president and the general secretary of the Morcha, respectively.
Political
analysts said Gurung had tied up with the GNLF because the Binay camp
of the Morcha had entered into an alliance with the Trinamul Congress to
defeat the BJP in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.
Addressing a
press meet with leaders of the Gurung camp in New Delhi on Tuesday, GNLF
spokesman Neeraj Zimba said: “We have jointly organised the press
conference vis-à-vis (to express) our support to the BJP.”
Leaders
of the GNLF and the Morcha present at the news meet said the new
political development “reflected the collective conscience and
aspirations of the Gorkhas” and the “demand of Gorkhaland is much more
important than individual aspirations”.
The remark was seen to be directed at Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa.
But
there are no indications that whether the candidate for the Darjeeling
seat will be from the BJP or either of the two hill party.
Lopsang Lama was among the Morcha leaders present at the press meet.
The analysts said the announcement of the new alliance had suddenly changed the political landscape in the hills.
“Without
the support of a hill party, it would have been very difficult for the
BJP to be a serious contender in the Darjeeling constituency, given its
lack of organisation in the hills. With the GNLF’s backing, its election
machinery will be available for the BJP in the hills,” said an
observer.
The Trinamul Congress-Morcha (Binay) combine has already
named sitting Darjeeling MLA Amar Singh Rai as the candidate in
Darjeeling. He will contest on the Trinamul symbol.
Speaking on
the sidelines of a public meeting at Lebong in the hills on Tuesday,
Binay Tamang sought to make light of the new alliance. “The GNLF doesn’t
have much support base in the hills and those leaders (Bimal Gurung and
others) are not physically present here. This alliance will hardly have
an impact,” he said.
“The BJP has taken us for a ride in the past
10 years; they have not fulfilled any of our demands. I vow to defeat
them not just in Darjeeling but also in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri,” said
Tamang.
https://www.telegraphindia.com
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