Gurung returned after Rajnath Singh assurance on Gorkhaland demand

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung on Wednesday returned home to Darjeeling after a 10-day of tour of Delhi and Varanasi. Talking to reporters in Kurseong, he said his entourage was on a pilgrimage tour to pursue the party’s paramount demand of a Gorkhaland state. On November 24, the GJM team met Union home minister Rajnath Singh and apprised him of the party’s decision to hold programmes in the national capital from December 18 to 20 in support of Gorkhaland.
According to Gurung, the home minister assured them of setting up a committee to look into the demand of a separate state of Gorkhaland. Following this assurance, the GJM decided to postpone the Delhi programme slated from December 18-20.When asked when the proposed committee would be formed, he said the home minster has assured him it would be after the winter parliamentary session.

North Bengal Development Department Minister Gautam Deb said in Siliguri, however, that there would be no bifurcation of West Bengal at any cost. “The state government will do everything it can for the development of the hills, but we will not allow the formation of Gorkhaland,” he said.The Minister acknowledged that the BJP had mentioned its support on the Gorkhaland issue in its manifesto before the Lok Sabha Elections earlier this year, but its stand on the issue was still not clear and needs clarification. (With inputs from HS)