Be honest to yourself, can a Gorkha ever aspire to be the Chief Minister of West Bengal? Since Independence, name one Gorkha Minister in the Central Government?
Despite being capable in every other way, Gorkhas have been sidelined politically. Which is why, this need and demand for Political autonomy exists.
BJP may think that Gorkhas are not ready for Gorkhaland, but Gorkhas know we are.
In 2024, the contest was between two major party – BJP and TMC, however, the contest had been made interesting by the entry of individuals, who are popular on social media. The interesting equation was made further interesting by the entry of Kurseong MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma, who entered the fray against his own party BJP’s official candidate Raju Bista.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday, April 14, released its manifesto or ‘Sankalp Patra’, with the tagline “Modi ki Guarantee”, for the Lok Sabha election 2024. Their 67-page manifesto, which is more of a big canvas policy statement, has avoided mention of all political issues, including – Gorkha aspirations.
There is no mention of PPS, or inclusion of 11 left-out Gorkha sub-tribes as Schedule Tribes.
Despite claims to contrary, it is clear that the BJP central leadership and also BJP West Bengal Unit have not been sincere towards Gorkha aspirations. So definitely they are not happy with Raju Bista constantly raking up the PPS and Gorkha ST issue. It makes them uncomfortable, when a youthful MP reminds them of their constant failure to address these issues. So they would rather have a “Maun-Mohan” than a “Modi” among their ranks. They would rather have someone who strictly toes the party line, and avoids contentious issues like PPS and Gorkha ST. Hence, there is a very strong rumor going around that BJP central leadership is seeking to replace Raju Bista with Harshavardhan Shringla.
What is most interesting for our region is that Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) led by Chief Minister P.S Golay encashed Rs 36.50 crores worth of electoral bonds, which is more than Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at Rs 30.50 cr, Janasena Party at Rs 21 cr, Samajvadi Party at Rs 14.10 crore and Jananata Dal (United) at Rs 14 crore.
Elections to Darjeeling Municipality have never been so consequential. Will it pave way for new regionalism or sabotage the Gorkhaland statehood demand forever?
Of late, we have all read multiple reports of Police Complaints being filed against those politicians who have raised the demand for the establishment of a Union Territory comprising of North Bengal districts.
“Prudent Voters Can See the Change in the Horizon” argues our guest contributor Ranjan Sharma* in this election special article In a democracy, the citizens…
For all his flaws, Bimal Gurung is still liked by a large section of the people from North Bengal. Especially in remote rural regions where politicians rarely venture, Bimal Gurung is seen as someone who has cared for the people. But will this sentiment prevail across the region? It’s difficult to say. But in tying his fate to TMC and also himself, Bimal has made a bold move, will it help him bounce back or will it backfire?
Now, with the announcement of poll dates by the Election Commission for the West Bengal Assembly elections and the state going into the electoral mode, for the first time in the Darjeeling Hills, the century-old emotive issue of Gorkhaland is conspicuous by its absence, as it has been put to the back burner by the principal parties GJMM 1 and 2 after almost a decade.