BJP betrayed hill people, say parties... BJP's performance is zero- hill political parties

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT,  15 February 2019, Darjeeling: "A zero", "big minus" and "betrayal" -- this is how different hill political parties described the BJP's performance on demands pertaining to Darjeeling in the past 10 years.

Till the 16th Lok Sabha sat for the last day on Wednesday, many had been hoping against hope that a bill to grant Scheduled Tribe status to 11 Gorkha communities would be passed by Parliament.

With no progress on creation of Gorkhaland despite repeated assurances by the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the hill parties feel the saffron camp has taken Darjeeling people for a ride. In 2009, Jaswant Singh of the BJP had won from Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat backed by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. In 2014, the BJP fielded S.S. Ahluwalia who also won with a huge majority by banking on Gorkha votes.

Morcha president Binay Tamang and Jana Andolan Party chief Harka Bahadur Chhetri on Thursday termed the BJP's performance in the past 10 years as "betrayal" of Gorkhas.

Govind Chhetri, the spokesman for the CPRM, described the performance as "a zero", while Pratap Khati of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League called it a "big minus".

The hill parties listed following assurances the BJP had given in the past 10 years for the hill people and failed to deliver on.

Sympathetic consideration of the longstanding demand of Gorkhas, which was interpreted as a favourable opinion on creation of Gorkhaland Granting of tribal status to 11 Gorkha communities Formation of a committee to examine the demand of the statehood Creation of a separate ministry for tea industry Establishment of a central university in Darjeeling A BJP leader had even said once that Independence Day would be celebrated in "Gorkhaland" the following year, while Modi described Gorkhas' "dream" as his.

Tamang said on Thursday: "The hopes and aspirations reposed by the Gorkhas in the BJP were over with the end of the interim budget session yesterday. The hope raised by the Prime Minister with his slogan that `Gorkhas dream is my dream' has also ended. They have only betrayed us.".

Tamang's criticism was on expected lines as he has aligned with the Trinamul Congress. But even the CPRM, ABGL and the JAP were critical of the BJP.

SS Ahluwalia "The Prime Minister himself raised our hopes. But none of the demands was fulfilled," said Harka. "Ministers used to tell us way back in 2015 that the tribal bill was in the Prime Minister's office for his signature," he added. Khati, which is heading one faction of the ABGL, said: "The BJP now has no ground to seek votes in the hills." According to CPRM leader Chhetri, the people of the hills will decide on the BJP's performance in the coming elections. Harka and Khati were both of the opinion that the BJP's failure to meet the expectations was a clear indication that national parties would not show sympathy for the hills.