Siliguri, March 31: The Darjeeling
BJP candidate, S.S. Ahluwalia, today faced the Gorkhaland question in
the plains, where the idea of statehood has many opposers.
Ahluwalia was at a
meeting of the Siliguri Bar Association on the Siliguri court premises
when he was asked by a couple of lawyers why his party raked up the
Gorkhaland question election after election.
“Back in 2009, the
BJP had said that the demand for Gorkhaland would be sympathetically
considered. Again in 2014, the same assertion has been made by your
party. Why are you repeatedly raking up this issue ahead of the polls?”
asked a senior lawyer.
Ahluwalia, who did
not lose his cool, said: “Gorkhaland is not the only issue which can
resolve the problems of the Gorkhas. There are several other problems
faced by the Gorkhas and other communities living in this part of the
country. Our intention is to resolve these problems and expedite
development of the area. The demand of the Gorkhas would be examined
sympathetically by us.”
As soon as he
finished, another lawyer asked: “Do you feel the conditions in
Darjeeling match the situation which led to the formation of three new
states by the erstwhile NDA government?”
Ahluwalia, a seasoned politician, smiled.
“It is the state reconstruction commission which looks after these demands and then makes its recommendations.”
The answer, however, did not satisfy the lawyer who wanted elaboration.
This led to chaos
as lawyers accompanying Ahluwalia asked him to come out of the room and
visit other rooms of the association, without lingering further.
Some others, seated in the room, kept on asking for an answer.
The BJP candidate, however, walked out of the room. He then spoke to other lawyers.
In total, he spent an hour in the bar association.
After coming out,
Ahluwalia said: “I am a law graduate and had been here to interact with
members of the legal fraternity. The discussions were cordial.”
He was critical at a section of the media for “trying to create bitterness among hills and plains (people).”
“Our party has
made it clear that it will examine appropriately and consider the
longstanding demands of Gorkhas and adivasis. However, Gorkhaland is not
the sole issue here and a section of the media is reporting in a manner
which can create bitterness between the hills and plains,” Ahluwalia
said.
He reconfirmed that Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, would visit Siliguri on April 10.(The Telegraph)