Darjeeling should be demerged from Bengal, no question of partition, says Raju Bista

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, APRIL 25, 2023:  Differing with the statement BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh that West Bengal should not be partitioned, BJP M.P. of Darjeeling and national spokesperson of BJP Raju Bista said on Monday that the formation of a separate state for the Gorkhas was an issue of “merger and demerger” and not one of partitioning Bengal. 

“Darjeeling had been merged with Bengal in the past and now it should be demerged,” he said. “This land does not belong to Bengal.”

Speaking to newspersons at Rambi in an event related to National Highway 10, Bista said he was working for a separate state for the Gorkhas. BJP would contest in the panchayat elections in the Darjeeling hills, whether in alliance or alone. 

Though the BJP would favour a three-tier panchayat election in the hills, it would take part in a two-tier panchayat election, too, to make the hills free from corruption and ensure development for the hills. 

He said the West Bengal government was going to hold the panchayat election out of fear that allotments of the15th Finance Commission could be suspended