West Bengal BJP chief shown black flags in Kalimpong over neglect of hilly region

Manogya Loiwal  |  Ankit Misra,  | India Today | Kolkata, October 4, 2017 : West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh was greeted by posters and black flags as he entered north Bengal today.

After Ghosh reached the New Jalpaiguri station by train on a three-day tour to north Bengal, he was shown by black flags and posters across Kalimpong district, a few kilometres away from the railway station.   

The protesters were cadres of the Jan Andolan Party, formed by Harka Bahadur Chetri in 2016 in the hills.

Ghosh will be in Kalimpong on October 4, in Darjeeling on October 5 and later visit Sikkim for a day. The protesters shouted slogans, saying "SS Ahluwalia go back, BJP go back. Come only if you have a solution for the hill problem."

FIRST BJP LEADER's VISIT AFTER GJM SUSPENDED AGITATION

This is the first time a BJP leader entered this hilly region of West Bengal after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha agreed to suspend its agitation in the region following Rajnath Singh's appeal to them.

Ghosh said, "No one has shown any interest in bringing to an end the agitation of the residents of the hill region. There is no hope for those people, their posters and slogans have no significance. Despite all possible discussions, the state government was not able to solve the problem. That's why the discussion is not going to happen. But the Centre is ready to discuss all their demands. Morcha leaders have been imprisoned due to the agitation because the state government is not seeking any talks with them."

Ghosh's tour of the state, however, is going to continue despite these protests.

(With inputs from Utpal Poddar in Siliguri)