‘Gorkhaland demand not to figure in BJP’s manifesto’

Manas R Bannerjee, SNS, 9 August 2013: At a time when the GJMM leaders are claiming that the central BJP leadership is positively inclined to carving Gorkhaland out of Bengal, state BJP leaders have made it categorically clear that the demand would not figure in the party’s manifesto for the next year’s Lok Sabha election. 

They also said the opinion of the Darjeeling MP and senior BJP leader, Mr Jaswant Singh for bifurcation of Bengal to create Gorkhaland is a personal one and the party under no circumstances would endorse the view. 

The state BJP president, Mr Rahul Sinha said the central leaders meeting the GJMM delegation in Delhi do not mean putting its seal on the demand for Gorkhaland. 

“I want to make it clear that my party would not mention ‘Gorkhaland’ in its election manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections slated for 2014. Of course we are all concerned about the state of things in the Darjeeling Hills,” he said. 

He also held the state government responsible for the current spell of crisis. 

“She acted in a cavalier fashion unbecoming of the head of the state by accepting the resignation of the GTA chief. This has merely given the grist to the GJMM mill. This has steeled their resolution to fight the repressive state to the last. To resolve it, convening a tripartite meeting is a must. Hardening posture in one camp would trigger the same in the other and the issue would remain elusive,” he added. 

The state BJP secretary, Mr Ritesh Tiwari, said the GJMM delegation is most likely to return from Delhi empty-handed. 

“They have got no assurance from my party. The stance of Darjeeling MP, Mr Jaswant Singh is his personal one. This does not reflect the party’s stance,” he said. He further said his party was against including the term ‘Gorkha’ when the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was set up in 1988. “We protested again when the GTA pact was signed,” he said. 

“When the GJMM leaders met Mrs Sushma Swaraj she asked them to go for a dialogue with the state government,” he added.