Demand for separate state constitutional: Gurung

PTI, Kolkata,5 September 2013: Terming as "unconstitutional" the Chief Minister's statement that West Bengal cannot be divided, GJM president Bimal Gurung Wednesday said the Constitution has provision for creating new states. "It is unconstitutional for Mamata Banerjee to say Bengal cannot be divided. 

Article 3(a) of the Constitution clearly says that a new state can be formed by separation of territory from any state or by uniting two or more states or parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state," Gurung said in a Facebook post. "Banerjee's statement is unconstitutional...No person is above the law or the Constitution," he said. Asserting that the statehood demand was about the identity and the right to self-determination, Gurung said, "Just as Banerjee says she is from Bengal, we too want to say we are from Gorkhaland. Gorkhaland is a justified and a constitutional demand," Gurung said.