BJP must give something tangible to Gorkhas to get something from the hills, says Bimal Gurung

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, AUGUST 28, 2023 :  “We have been displaced for three years for Gorkha Identity. That's why we struggle for Gorkha Identity,” Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung said in Kalimpong on Monday.
Wondering when the Centre would give justice to the Gorkhas, he said there was no such hope now. 

“We have given an M.P. to the BJP for 15 years. During this period, we had many meetings with Ministers, including the Home Minister. But now I have no hope in the BJP any more.” Gurung said if he could make the lotus flower bloom on the rock, h could also remove the lotus flower from the rock. 

“We thought the Prime Minister would say something for the Gorkhas on August 15, but he did not say anything. From this, it is clear that the BJP has nothing for the Gorkhas.” 

The GJM president said he would now think about how to plan his new strategy. Stating that he was not born as a leader and had joined the Gorkhaland movement in 1986 as a soldier, he said the strategy of the GJM for the Lok Sabha election in 2024 and the West Bengal assembly election in 2026 had already been decided upon. 

“BJP has to give something tangible now. Otherwise it will not get anything from the hills.” He said the sixth schedule could not be implemented in the hills now. If the Centre wanted to bring the hills under the ambit of the sixth schedule of the Constitution it should be done only after recognizing the 11 left- out Gorkha communities as tribes. He said after the movement of 2017 when he returned home the assembly election was there. 

“At that time I helped the Trinamool Congres, saying I want Mamata Banerjee to become the Chief Minister for the third time. After that I have no relation with the NDA or with the West Bengal government. I am living independently.