BJP hill MP's support for statehood

Photo Courtesy: Bikash Gurung

Rajeev Ravidas, TT, BJP Lok Sabha MP from Darjeeling S.S. Ahluwalia today lent his support for Gorkhaland in an address during an Independence Day event in Kalimpong.

He insisted that the dream of the Gorkhas for a state of their own must be fulfilled.

"A Punjabi says I am from Punjab, a Bengali says I am from Bengal, a Bihari says I am from Bihar.... When will a Gorkha say I am from Gorkhaland?" Ahluwalia asked amid loud cheers from the crowd of several hundred people at the Mela Ground.

Lauding the Gorkhas for their sincerity and hard work, Ahluwalia said the Gorkhaland struggle had to complete its course. "Their (the Gorkhas') dream must be fulfilled and their efforts must be completed as well," he added.

Narendra Modi, during the BJP's campaign for the Lok Sabha elections last year, had said the dream of the Gorkhas was his dream too. He had not used the word Gorkhaland

Ahluwalia was elected to the Lok Sabha from the only seat in the Darjeeling district with the support of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

The Morcha's core demand has been a separate state of Gorkhaland comprising the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong and parts of the Dooars and the Terai.

A Trinamul leader condemned Ahluwalia's remarks and said the chief minister was likely to respond to the BJP's "conspiracy" to unsettle the state "very soon".