Darjeeling, March 28: The Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha president, Bimal Gurung, today said he had promised the
hill people Gorkhaland by March 10, 2010, in the belief that the BJP-led
National Democratic Alliance would come to power in 2009.
“There was some
thought behind my March 10 (2010) deadline. I was of the opinion that
the NDA would be voted to power in 2009 and that Gorkhaland would be
achieved by 2010. However, it was our bad luck that NDA did not come to
power. This year, NDA is definitely coming to power and we will be
making a big mistake if we don’t ensure the BJP’s victory from
Darjeeling,” Gurung told a party workers’ meet at Alubari-Phulbari in
Darjeeling.
Within months of
launching the Morcha in October 2007, Gurung had publicly claimed that
he would “achieve” Gorkhaland by March 10, 2010, failing which, he would
shoot himself.
The statement on
the deadline was debated throughout his agitation. On March 10, 2010,
when a public meeting was being held at Lichi Ground in Kalimpong,
Gurung scurried across the dais to grab a suitcase, but was held back by
other leaders of the Morcha.
The general feeling was that Gurung was trying to reach for a revolver in his suitcase but his intention was never known.
Although Gurung
today said he hoped the BJP would be in power in Delhi after the 2009
Lok Sabha polls, he had earlier provided a different explanation for
setting the March 10, 2010 deadline.
“I have studied Ghisingh’s kundali (horoscope) along with mine and the Morcha’s. It says Gorkhaland will be formed soon,” Gurung had said in January 2008.
Today, Gurung
attacked GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh also. “Ghisingh has come back to
Darjeeling probably because Mamata Banerjee has threatened to withdraw
his Z-security status and Ghisingh is someone who cannot live without
security. He might also have been threatened that the funds spent by the
DGHC during his 22-year rule would be audited.”
The GNLF chief had returned to his Darjeeling home last week after staying in the plains for a few years.(TT)