BJP statement in Kurseong draws flak- He was apparently referring to the demand for such status for 11 Gorkha communities in India

SNS, KURSEONG. 29 MARCH 21 : In what BJP leaders said was a "slip of tongue," national general secretary of the BJP Kailash Vijayvargiya today said the central and the state governments will together work towards granting tribal status to 11 communities 'of Nepal." He was apparently referring to the long-pending demand for such status for 11 Gorkha communities in India, something that the BlP has promised to grant.

Mr Vijayvargiya was talking to reporters during a party rally in Kurseong in Darjeeling, organised jointly by the BJP and its alliance partner, the Gorkha National Liberation front (GNLF) in support of the MP's Kurseong Assembly election candidate BP Bajgain. "The central government will resolve the political problem (in the Hills), while the central government, along with the state government, will work together to solve the problems of the 11 communities of Nepal," Mr Vijayvargiya said.

The statement drew condemnation from several quarters, with the leader of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha, Binoy Tamang, saying that the BJP had insulted the Gorkhas in their homeland "by calling us from Nepal."

"The BJP till date hasn't given anything to the Gorkha community and this remark has only added yet another insult to the Gorkha community from the BJP," Mr Tamang said in a release.

"Shri SS Ahluwalia, former BJP MP from Darjeeling, had also (once) referred to our Gorkha community as people from Nepal," he added.

He demanded an unconditional apology from Mr Vijayvargiya.

Leader of the other faction of the Morcha Roshan Girl also issued a video clip, strongly condemning Mr Vijayvatgiya's statement. "We can understand from the statement what the BJP thinks of us, Gorkhas. Cutting across party lines, we should all protest in the strongest terms such statements coming from the BJP" Mr Giri said.

Meanwhile, after the rally in Kurseong, Mr Bajgain filed his nomination papers at the Kurseong SDO office.