Gorkha body vocal against Raju Bista for failing to ensure Gorkhaland and ST status for 11 left-out communities

PRASHANT ACHARYA, EOI, SILIGURI, APRIL 24, 2023 : All India Gorkha 11 Jan-Jati Maha Sangh members on Monday criticized Darjeeling MP Raju Bista for ‘fooling’ the people of Darjeeling in the name of Gorkhaland and providing scheduled tribe status for the 11 left-out Gorkha communities.

Members of the Sangh in a news conference at the Siliguri Journalist Club on Monday asked Darjeeling MP Raju Bista to fulfill the demands of a separate state of Gorkhaland and ST status for the 11 left-out Gorkha communities before the monsoon session of Parliament. If he failed, Gorkhas would not cast a single vote for him, they said.

General Secretary of the Sangh Andrew Gurung alleged that the BJP government since 2009 had been giving false assurances to the people of Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills in the name of Gorkhaland and providing ST status. These promises came only before the elections. He said Bista had never remained serious towards the demands of the people who voted for him and made him the MP.

National President of the Sangh Kanchan Gurung said: “If Bista thinks he is Gorkha and will work for the betterment of the Gorkhas, he will have to bring Gorkhaland before the upcoming election and also fulfill the long demand of ST status for the 11 left-out Gorkha communities before his tenure comes to an end. We have voted for him and made MP only because he will fulfill the two major demands of Gorkhas, not to read out notes during the Zero Hour of the Parliament session”.

On November 15, 2021,Bista met the Sangh members and discussed the issue concerning the grant of ST Status for the 11 left-out Gorkha communities.

He also informed the delegation that the Union Home Ministry had taken up the issue of expediting the process of inclusion of 11 left-out Gorkha sub-tribes into the Schedules Tribe list of India with the Registrar General of India.