Siliguri: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders in the foothills said
on Monday they would stand by party chief Binay Tamang and would not
"repeat the mistake" of voting the BJP.
"There is no question of
supporting the BJP again as we don't want to be duped again like they
did twice with the hill residents in back to back Lok Sabha polls. We
have full faith on Binay Tamang and our committee will also work to
ensure that around 1.50 lakh Gorkhas, who reside in Siliguri
subdivision, do not vote the BJP," said Pratap Lama, the general
secretary of the subdivisional unit of the Morcha.
The new committee of the subdivision was formed on Friday. On August
29, the committee members will visit Darjeeling to meet Tamang and
discuss the prospective activities that the hill party would take up in
the plains.
The
formation of the new committee - the old one turned defunct since last
year's agitation - is significant and indicates that the Tamang-led
Morcha is not ready to leave any option for the BJP to try and
consolidate support among the Gorkha population.
"In
the hills, it is tough for the BJP to win back support. Morcha leaders
and workers are so annoyed with the party that they are not ready to let
it try and build bases among the Gorkhas who live in the foothills.
This is what seems to be the primary focus of the new committee that has
been formed in the sub-division," said an observer.
Prem Kumar
Tamang, the president of the new committee, said they would also request
Tamang to speak to the state government for infrastructure development
in remote areas of the subdivision.
The Telegraph
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