No Modi wave around here, says Bhaichung

SNS, Kurseong, 8 April 2014: Trinamul Congress Lok Sabha candidate for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency Bhaichung Bhutia today said that the BJP and the Modi wave is limited to the electronic and print media, while they have had no effect in eastern India and Bengal in reality.

Mr Bhutia, who was here as part of his poll campaign, made such remarks when asked to comment on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s scheduled rally in Siliguri on 10 April.

“The BJP and the Modi wave are seen only in television and the media, but in reality, there is no such wave, while its presence in Bengal and eastern India is nil,” he said. Mr Bhutia today attended a programme at the Monteviot ground here, organised by the Darjeeling Himalaya Karmachari Sangathan, a casual workers’ organization affiliated to INTTUC, the trade wing of the TMC.

Addressing the gathering, he said the GJMM-backed BJP candidate in the Hills, SS Ahluwalia, has been saying that he is the son of the soil, “but I will quit politics if he eats some local food like kinayma (fermented soyabeans), churpi (chewable hardened cheese) and gundruk (fermented leaves).”

Mr Bhutia said that in the name of Gorkhaland and development, the people have been betrayed by the GJMM leadership and that rampant corruption is going on in the Hills.

He further said that they had filed an RTI application in the parliament regarding the MP funds. According to him, it is learnt that at the rate of Rs 5 crore yearly, a minimum of Rs 25 crore has already been taken by the MP for the development of the Hills, but “surprisingly, not a single development work was initiated.” The money was spent on public meetings and leaders' personal needs, he alleged.

He said that if elected as their representative in parliament, he would make all the funds transparent through the media.