With the political honeymoon with Mamata Banerjee now well and truly
over, the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland has returned to
reverberate around the hills of Darjeeling.
This time the Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha has raked up the demand with the state elections as
excuse. Morcha candidate from Darjeeling, Amar Rai, justifies the stand
despite knowing well that only the Centre can fulfil that demand.
"It's a question of identity. It is basically in Bengal that we are
called outsiders, foreigners, immigrants. So we will continue to raise
the issue of Gorkhaland here in our own state of West Bengal. But at the
same time what we aim at is making the movement Delhi-centric because
we know that it is ultimately Delhi, the Union Parliament who can grant
us statehood", Amar Rai, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Candidate, Darjeeling
said.
Amar
Rai's counterpart in Kalimpong, Morcha candidate Sarita Rai is also
hoping to garner support by reigniting the ethnic cause. It's a cause
which Mamata Banerjee claims to have taken care of by forming the Gorkha
Territorial Administration or GTA which is an autonomous body for hill
administration.
"The demand for Gorkhaland is the mother of all
our demands. You are saying that the state has no role to play. But we
must raise the demand in the state assembly as well. Because when
Gorkhaland will actually come into existence, it will be carved out of
Bengal", Sarita Rai, Candidate, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Kalimpong said.
Former
leader of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha in Kalimpong, Harka Bahadur
Chhetri quit the organisation and formed his own political umbrella, the
Jan Andolan Party. Chhetri has now emerged as the most formidable
opponent of the Morcha in the hills with support from the Trinamool
Congress and is looking to change the political rhetoric of the hills.
Chhetri
maintains that issue of separate statehood has pushed the real issues
of the hills to the backdrop and has put the region in a vicious cycle.
Trinamool's Sharda Rai Subba, believes it's time to go beyond the frenzy of statehood.
"The
urban areas are struggling, and the situation in the rural areas is far
worse. There are no panchayats in the rural areas. As a result,
government facilities for the rural poor are not reaching them", Sharda
Rai Subba, Trinamool Congress candidate, Darjeeling said.
Morcha's
popularity still remains on priority whereas the local issues of
Darjeeling are likely to take a back seat in the upcoming polls on
Sunday.
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