Bimal Gurung – Raju Bista meeting points to new equations in Darjeeling Lok Sabha sea

Bista came to meet me today, like other candidates have. BJP Kurseong MLA B.P. Bajgain and Hamro Party President Ajoy Edwards have also met me

EOI, DARJEELING, MARCH 30, 2024 : BJP candidate for Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat Raju Bista on Saturday called on Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President Bimal Gurung and sought his support in the Lok Sabha election. 

“He (Bista) came to meet me today, like other candidates have. BJP Kurseong MLA B.P. Bajgain and Hamro Party President Ajoy Edwards have also met me. I am the guardian of this region and hence leaders come to meet me for various purposes. I welcome them and always give them my blessings," Bimal Gurung said. 

The GJM President reiterated his earlier statement of the party filing “nomination” on April 3, but without clarifying if the GJM would field a candidate or extend support to other parties. The GJM chief has given a call to supporters from the hills and the Terai to assemble in Darjeeling on the day of filing of the nomination papers. 

A section of the youth wing of the GJM wants Bimal Gurung to contest from the Darjeeling seat this year. 

Incidentally, Bista will be filing his papers on April 3, sources said. Bimal Gurung did no disclose the contents of his meeting with senior leaders in Delhi earlier this week. When asked about the meeting with the GJM leader, Bista said, “I met Bimal daju as a younger brother. It was because of him that I won in 2019 and rose in politics. I admit that due to circumstances the BJP and the GJM remained adrift. However, I continued to maintain personal relations with him". Bista was confident of getting Gurung's support to retain his seat from the Darjeeling constituency with an even bigger margin than in the last election.

“We had a good talk. I am optimistic that he will trust us and join the NDA alliance again because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership," he said. When asked about the promises made to the Gorkha community which were yet to be fulfilled, Bista said: “In Siliguri the Prime Minister had announced that the BJP was close to finding a solution for the Gorkha community. 

I have no reasons to doubt him. Besides, it should be remembered that I have internal information of things happening within the party".Bista said he would continue to be in politics till a solution is achieved for the Gorkha community. 

BJP won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat with the support of Bimal Gurung in2009, 2014 and 2019, but in 2020 the GJM and the BJP drifted apart when Bimal Gurung joined hands with Trinamool Congress; having spent three years in exile after the statehood agitation of 2017.