Bimal Gurung back to statehood cry, says separate state demand committee finalised plans for a grand movement

 Trinamul-run zilla parishad and district police in Jalpaiguri denied permission to the committee to hold a public meeting scheduled for Sunday

Bimal Gurung at his party's youth wing foundation day in Kalimpong on Saturday

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, 19.11.23 : Bimal Gurung, the president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, said the "separate state demand committee" formed by 28 organisations in north Bengal had finalised plans for a grand movement with the aim to electorally influence the eight Lok Sabha seats from the region.

The Trinamul-run zilla parishad and district police in Jalpaiguri denied permission to the committee to hold a public meeting scheduled for Sunday.

However, Gurung said the committee was willing to approach state and central governments as there are “no permanent friends and enemies" in politics.

“We will first submit a memorandum to the state government and the Centre and following their response will go ahead with a grand movement,” said Gurung at the foundation day of the party’s youth wing in Kalimpong on Saturday.

Leaders of the committee from both the hills and plains were present.

"I want to say, when you need Bimal Gurung you bring him and when you don’t need him you throw him away. In politics there are no permanent friends and enemies...,” said Gurung.

Observers said Gurung hinted to his coming back to the hills in 2020 after being on the run in the wake of his Gorkhaland agitation in 2017. Gurung backed Trinamul during the 2021 Assembly polls but his party fared poorly.

Gradually, ties between Gurung and Trinamul became distant.

Gurung said they would hold many events in north Bengal and "culminate our programme" with a meeting at Siliguri's Gandhi Maidan that "will change the contour of the eight Lok Sabha seats of north Bengal".

Courtesy & source- The Telegraph