Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supremo Bimal Gurung, who recently switched allegiance from the TMC to BJP, on Wednesday said his support for the saffron camp is only on the issue of separate state of Gorkhaland.
The constituency will go to polls in the second phase on April 26.
"I have good relations with the BJP only on the issue of a separate state of Gorkhaland. We (Gorkhas) have been suffering for 15 years now, and we have been assured by the BJP that we will get a separate identity. So I think we should support the BJP," Gurung said.
The BJP has promised a Permanent Political Solution within the next five years, and the Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has issued a 'final ultimatum' to the saffron camp, demanding a resolution to the hill problem as a precondition for their support in the elections.
Gurung said he was the one to raise the issue of a separate Gorkhaland in 2017 and had twice switched allegiance in the last few years.
"I had thought of joining the TMC for the development of the hills, but after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee became CM for the third time, she did not keep her promise and had no time to meet Gorkha leaders," he said.
Gurung said the TMC candidate backed by BGPM won't be a factor in the polls.
"We are confident that the BJP will win the seat," he said.
Gurung, a strong proponent of a separate state of Gorkhaland, who was on the run following the violent Gorkhaland agitation in 2017, remained an ally of the BJP till 2019.
However, just months before the 2021 assembly polls, Gurung, along with his close allies, came out of hiding and pledged allegiance to the TMC.
Although he returned to the hills, with the advent of new regional hill parties like Hamrao Party led by Ajoy Edwards, which won the Darjeeling Municipal polls in 2022, and Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) led by Anit Thapa, which swept the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) polls in June 2022, the GJM's clout was diminished to a large extent.
Reacting to Gurung's claim, Thapa said Gopal Lama is the BGPM candidate backed by TMC, and that's why in the hills there are no flags of TMC.
"Gopal Lama is the Bhumi Putra (Son of the soil), while BJP MP Raju Bista is an outsider," Thapa, who is also GTA chairman, said.
He said the BJP has been "fooling the people of the hills" with the promise of Gorkhaland.
"The BJP has said they don't believe in division; then there is no question of our demands being fulfilled, and the people of the hills are just being fooled," Thapa said.
The BJP has been winning the seat since 2009 with GJM's support.
Bista has been re-nominated as the party's candidate for the seat for the second consecutive term.
Congress-Left Front-Hamro Party alliance candidate and former president of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, Munish Tamang, a strong advocate for Gorkhaland, is also in the fray.
The Darjeeling Hills, renowned for its tea, tourism, and timber industry, have experienced bouts of violence since the '80s due to the demand for a separate state of 'Gorkhaland'.
The most recent agitation occurred in 2017, lasting 104 days and leaving a trail of destruction.
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