Union home minister Amit Shah’s statement that a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal would resolve Gorkha issues without dividing the state has drawn mixed reactions in the Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong assembly seats, which go to polls in the first phase of the two-phase exercise on April 23.
“I told our Gorkha brothers in Darjeeling that after winning, the BJP will resolve the Gorkha issues following constitutional provisions and without dividing the state,” Shah said at a BJP rally in South Dinajpur district on Tuesday, two days after chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Centre plans to divide the state.
BJP allies, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), welcomed Shah’s remark, while allies of the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) criticised him.
Since the 1980s, the Darjeeling hills have witnessed violent movements — started by the GNLF and followed by the GJM — demanding a separate state for the Gorkhas.
The BJP, which is contesting all three assembly seats by fielding local Gorkha candidates, has won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat four times in a row since 2009 with support from the GJM and GNLF.
The TMC has earmarked the three seats for its ally, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), which currently runs the local administration.
Shah was supposed to attend a BJP rally in Darjeeling on Wednesday, but it was called off. Virtually addressing Darjeeling voters from a rally in Malda district, he said, “The BJP will find a political solution to the Gorkha issues within the constitutional framework once it comes to power.”
BGPM spokesperson Keshav Raj Pokhrel said, “All parties seem to be the same. BJP’s Taju Bista became the Darjeeling MP twice by promising a seperate state. He should resign now.”
N B Khawas, a central committee member of the Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front (IGJF) — which keeps an equal distance from the BJP and TMC — said, “How can the Gorkhas trust the BJP? It promised to find a political solution in its 2014 and 2019 Darjeeling Lok Sabha poll manifestos but did not mention anything in the 2024 document.”
Meanwhile, BJP allies welcomed Shah’s statement.
GNLF secretary Hrishi Thapa said, “Forming a separate state or union territory is not possible now. Instead, we want a separate administrative body for the Gorkha dominated areas of Darjeeling, Terai and the Dooars with constitutional safeguards. It should have financial and legislative powers.”
GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said, “We welcome Shah’s statement. When we met with him in Delhi on February 22, he promised the best solution.”
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