GJM to sever ties with BJP in 2019 polls

Darjeeling: The domino effect of the performance of BJP in the Assembly elections in the 5 states was felt kilometers away in the Darjeeling Hills in Bengal. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), an ally of BJP, declared that the Gorkhas have been let down by the saffron camp and would sever ties with BJP in the 2019 Parliamentary elections.

Incidentally, BJP had gained a political foothold in Bengal, riding piggyback on the Gorkhaland demand and winning the Darjeeling Parliamentary seat twice, backed by GJM. In the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP heavyweights Jaswant Singh and SS Ahluwalia had contested with backing by GJM from Darjeeling. During both the elections, BJP had published addendums in the election manifesto to sympathetically consider the demand of the Gorkhas. "They have let us down time and again. Recently, MP SS Ahluwalia, along with leaders of the Bimal Gurung faction, had assured that a Bill would be tabled in Parliament to include 11 Gorkha communities in the ST list in the winter session. There are 63 Government Bills to be tabled in the winter session, but no bill to include Gorkha communities in the ST list," alleged Binay Tamang, GTA chairman and GJM president.