GJM quits NDA, points to BJP silence during 104-day bandh

MP, Darjeeling: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has stated that it has nothing to do with the BJP or the NDA alliance anymore as a feeling of betrayal has crept in with the saffron party's silence during the 104-day-long bandh. The political rift further widened with the recent statement of the BJP Bengal president's statement that only an electoral alliance exists between the two parties.

L M Lama, the organising chief of the GJM, stated that the BJP has been exposed with the statement of Dilip Ghosh, state president of the BJP, that only an electoral alliance exists between the BJP and the GJM.

"The GJM has been the foothold for the BJP and the NDA in Bengal. In 2009 and again in 2014, the BJP candidates backed by the GJM had won the Parliamentary election from Darjeeling. In both the instances, the BJP election manifesto spoke sympathetically considering the long-standing demand of the Gorkhas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while campaigning for S S Ahluwalia, had also stated that the dream of the Gorkhas is his dream. It seems that all this were mere words and there was no sincerity behind those statements," stated Lama.

During the agitation last year along with the 104-day bandh which left 13 people dead, Delhi maintained a calculated silence. "The people felt let down. The GJM had nothing to do with the BJP or NDA anymore," added Lama.

Interestingly, during his visit to the Hills on October 5 last year, Ghosh along with other BJP leaders was heckled. GJM supporters from the Binay Tamang camp had waved black flags and alleged that Ghosh was trying to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the Hills.

Meanwhile, in a press release, GJM leader Bimal Gurung, who is on the run, dubbed the statement of Binay Tamang that the GJM has quit the NDA alliance as "ludicrous," further claiming that it does not reflect the official stand of the GJM.