Raju Bista promises Gorkhaland in five years

Bista was in Bijanbari to campaign, accompanied by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president, Bimal Gurung and Gorkha National Liberation Front Secretary General, Neeraj Zimba and leaders of other alliance partners.

EOI, DARJEELING, APRIL 11, 2024 :  BJP candidate of Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat Raju Bista on Thursday said a separate state of Gorkhaland would be a reality in the next five years and that he would take up the issue vigorously in Parliament if he was elected. 

Bista was in Bijanbari to campaign, accompanied by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president, Bimal Gurung and Gorkha National Liberation Front Secretary General, Neeraj Zimba and leaders of other alliance partners. 

"Your turnout and support have boosted my confidence and energized me to vigorously demand Gorkhaland in Parliament. I promise Gorkhaland will be a reality. In the past five years it took me time to know the voters. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit us. As things turned normal the election activities took over," Bista said.
The BJP had promised to find a permanent political solution for the hills and grant tribal status to the 11 left-out Gorkha communities in its election manifesto. Bista is from Manipur and his in-laws are from the hills and was given the BJP ticket to contest from the Darjeeling constituency in 2019. He won by an impressive margin with the support of the GNLF and the GJM. "For the past one month I did not give statements because I did not have the licence. Now that I have the licence, it is a 'sanjivani buti' which will never expire. I will not quit till Gorkhaland is achieved," the sitting BJP MP from Darjeeling said.

For Bista, the licence to speak was the BJP ticket to contest the election. The ‘sanjivani buti’ had reference to the epic Ramayana where Hanumana brought the entire mountain that had the ‘sanjivani herbs’ to cure Laxman who had been shot by an arrow. Bista dared the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha to stop him from campaigning in the Bijanbari block.
"A few days ago a leader from this area owing allegiance to the BGPM had said he would show me black flag if I came here. I want to say that I will be campaigning in this area in the coming days. I am also a Gorkha and will not get intimidated," he said. 

It may be recalled that BGPM vice president and Sabhasad of the Relling-Kaijaley constituency had said he would personally show black flag if Bista visited the area as the latter had failed to deliver to the people. Bista tried to turn the table on the Trinamool Congress and the Congress, saying they were fooling the hill people. "The Trinamool is a party that kills people of the hills.

The Congress when in power divided the hill region. The BJP will get more than 30 seats in Bengal. When we form the government, the police baton will be in my hand and I will put the Trinamool and its alliance in place," he said.

The BJP candidate alleged the Trinamool Congress - BGPM ofbeing heaped in corruption, scam and nepotism. GJM president Bimal Gurung said his decision to support the BJP was based on preserving and safeguarding the prestige of the hills. 

\"They (BGPM-Trinamool)harp on development. But till now they have not done anything. It was I who laid the foundation with the help of the Centre, of which they are trying to take credit. I urge Bista to enforce a CBI and ED inquiry in the GTA body," he said. 

Zimba took pot shots at the Trinamool Congress candidate Gopal Lama supported by BGPM, saying the latter was a political novice and did not have any agenda to contest in the parliamentary election on April 26. 

"Lama will not be able to work in Delhi. In fact, Lama has already said that he does not have any agenda. This is equal to hit wicket and suicide goal. It’s basically a political death for him. We believe in the acumen of Bista to deliver for us," the GNLF leader said.