Gorkha leader Bimal Gurung, close aide return to West Bengal; announce support to Mamata

The leaders say they are quitting NDA as it failed to keep promises

Gorkha Janamukti Morcha founder Bimal Gurung and his associate Roshan Giri speaking to media in Kolkata | Salil Bera

Rabi Banerjee, The week, October 21, 2020 : Gorkha Janamukti Morcha founder Bimal Gurung and his associate Roshan Giri returned to Kolkata on Wednesday and declared that they would support Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress in the upcoming assembly election.

"I was part of the NDA. Now I am quitting it because [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi and [Home Minister] Amit Shah did not keep their promises," said Gurung.

The return of Gurung and his close aide to the West Bengal capital has set the tongues wagging given the fact that the duo are facing more than 100 criminal cases like murder, riot and even terror charges under the UAPA. They had launched a violent movement in Darjeeling in 2017, following which the state government began a major crackdown, making the leaders flee from the hills with their families.

Gurung and his associates chose to return to the state during Durga Puja. They, however, did not get accommodation at Gorkha house in Salt Lake and booked a five-star hotel in Kolkata. 

Both Gurung and Giri were absconding for more than three years. They were traced to Nepal in 2019. The West Bengal police had alleged that Gurung had properties in London. A three-member team of senior police officials was formed to strategise the arrest of Gurung, Giri and their associates. The Gorkha leaders were, however, sheltered near Delhi allegedly by a section of BJP leaders. 

The way Gurung reappeared on Wednesday pointed towards a covert deal between him and Chief Minister Banerjee. If needed, the government could arrest Gurung and Giri who are facing highly sensitive non-bailable criminal charges.

The BJP has targeted the TMC over the return of Gorkha leaders. “For long Mamata Banerjee had been saying we had sheltered Gurung and others. Now people came to know who did what. They are facing terror charges and chargesheets have been filed against them," said Sayantan Basu, state general secretary of BJP.

Gurung, however, denied he had any talks with Banerjee or the TMC.

"If Mamata didi wants to arrest me, I will go to jail. But I will not support the BJP. I will work for my party from jail," said he.

The TMC had lost the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat to the BJP in 2019. Banerjee, however, has found the existing leadership of the GJM ineffective. So she took a master-stroke in Darjeeling which, she thinks, would help her win at least 7 to 10 assembly seats in and around the hilly district where Gorkhas are inhabited. 

Question remains that if Gurung, after being away for several years, has enough clout in Darjeeling. His old associates like Binay Tamang and Anik Thapa, who are now running the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) in Darjeeling, have lost their influence on voters. PM Modi came up as a popular figure in the hills during the last election. But now Modi is also facing a key challenge.

(Courtesy & source: The Week- https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/10/21/bimal-gurung-gjm-west-bengal-mamata-banerjee.html)

Gurung's return has brought back the Darjeeling issue to the spotlight again.