“ It requires an effort of logical acrobatics to believe that carnage of innocents is an instrument for freedom and elections are a symbol of deception and repression. ”

This statement of his has become quite relevant for the ongoing bye-elections in Sikkim this year for the three constituencies. Never has Sikkim witnessed such an interesting bye-election as people knew what was to come for them. Yet, we all wait to see the final results and get reassured that Atalji was correct in his analysis that elections are and will remain the mainstay of democratic India.

Being an academician I have been often asked in the last few weeks as to what the fate of the candidates would be. Perhaps, people felt that they would get a different perspective from my end. Well, my answer was pretty obvious and the regular one which everybody knew. Rather the normal Rhetoric. “…Ah, we know that already, but tell us what you personally think” They would goad me to dig a little deeper. It would be tough for me to explain that the ruling party does have a huge advantage but then it would be difficult to comprehend. The answer perhaps lies between the bylines and the undercurrent that the present Sikkimese masses are going through due to the obvious realities of alliances and the new narratives created by both the frontline regional parties juxtaposed to the rise of new independent candidates in the fray.

What we see and what we don’t!

The recent election results in May 2019, brought down the incumbent 25-year-old regime and the birth of a new government. Perhaps there were children born in these times and had never seen a different party. Sikkim politics had become too obvious and predictable in these two decades. This year it was however different.

But what continued after the election results were even more unpredictable and unprecedented. The switching over of political representatives had happened before but this type of blatant switchover in less than a hundred days had never happened and suddenly we had the central politics right in the middle of the turf.

New alliances were formed on both sides and arch-rivals, just a month back could be seen hobnobbing with each other. I am made to once again realize and accept the fact that- ‘Politics is the art of the Possible”. Politicians do have ‘reasons’ and I have no reason to disbelieve anyone. Half-Truths are also part of the Full-Truth. The full truth is what we wait to see and hear in the days to come. Being a close observer of regional politics in Sikkim and Darjeeling together with the Indian politics, This time round even I am left gasping for the real truth behind this switch over politics. I wait to find …someday!!!

Independent Candidates- a new feature

One of the interesting features was the rise of a particular Independent candidate in the last election who had been denied a ticket by the ruling dispensation, going against the popular demand of the people of his constituency. What resulted was that he came a close second in that constituency which was quite unimaginable in terms of vote share by any independent candidate previously. Well, that is history!

But then there is a sudden excitement regarding some of the independent candidates this time around (especially in the two seats in east district) and it would be really interesting again to analyse the result after the elections. The main reason and their battle cry had something common, and that was to talk of the supposed ‘unholy’ alliance with a certain central party and to save the state and its special provisions from this party citing J&K. Well, there is much to understand here. I personally feel that it is always good for smaller states to stay with the dispensation at the centre than oppose it. The special provisions that were removed for J&K were totally done at the central level and in the floor of the house in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The state legislature had rather no role in the transition process. Hence, it is also imperative for the people of the smaller state to understand these nuances of central politics that though India is a federal set up we need to acknowledge the huge of the role of centre, both in terms of funds and security. The larger states like Maharashtra, UP, MP, Bengal etc have certain liberties as they have larger number of representatives going to the Parliament vis-a-vis states like Sikkim. The best option, however, would be to not flaunt and make these special provisions a national issue and attract eyeballs.

Interesting times ahead

Sikkim is just a minuscule considering the great Indian electoral politics. It is always important to see the bigger picture which is playing out in the mainstream. In 1947, when India became a Nation-State, the consolidation of the new areas that suddenly came under the direct control of India was important to the Central Government. It was also imperative for the then government to erect new ‘Temples of Development’, support agriculture and industry, give an impetus to the alleviation of poverty, health and education. This was further made difficult by the constraints of the bipolar world politics, to remain nonpartisan in the cold war, fight the rise of extreme left-wing communism with China in our neighbourhood. The 90’s rolled in a new definition of global economy ushering globalization and liberalization policies and the new millennium is giving rise to further challenges. This, contrasted with the huge Hindu majority in India and the proliferation of new mode of communication saddled on the lines of social media where the relevance and efficacy of the fourth pillar being constantly jolted with uploads and downloads in the digital world is giving rise to new age politics. A politics where a veteran upright politician loses an election to a nouveau movie star or a TikTok artist is slated to win an election. Or a new party wins 96% of the seats to form a government in the heart of India. Times are changing and changing fast. We wait and watch the new age of politics to unroll further.

Writes: Satyadeep S Chettri. The writer can be contacted at satyazworld@gmail.com

The post Sikkim: Bye-Elections 2019 and the Excitement appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

In a democracy, it is the people who define the fate of politicians, and not the other way around. Sometimes, politicians, blinded by power and authority, fail to understand this universal truth and lead themselves to disaster.

The just-concluded Lok Sabha election saw the fall of many such politicians. One such leader was Ms Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal. Considering her image as a mass leader, many describe as “tragic and unexpected” her poor show in the elections.

We are all aware of her sustained battle against Left Front rule in West Bengal for decades. She was abused, humiliated and physically assaulted many a time during her struggle.

In 2011, nearly 30 years after she started her resistance against the Communists, she finally demolished the Left Front government in her home state. Overnight, she became a national hero whose reputation as a mass leader went beyond India’s frontiers.

In the recent election, Ms Banerjee seemed to have undone whatever good she had done for herself and her party – the Trinamool Congress, over the years. She ended up being a non-significant political player. Until a few months ago, the whole of India used to regard her as a kingmaker who can bring all Opposition parties together to fight the ever-increasing might and influence of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Why did the people abandon Ms Banerjee?

The chief reason is the way her party won most of the panchayat seats last year by not allowing any other party to contest the panchayat elections. The Trinamool Congress used brute force to cow down its opponents.

Since it won the panchayat election without any contest or voting, TMC and Mamata could not make out how much people’s attitude towards them had changed after the panchayat poll debacle. Mamata kept on saying TMC would win all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, but ultimately got only 22. What complicated matters more for it was the rise in the BJP’s Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal: from two in 2014 to 18 in 2019.

Another factor that led to the Trinamool’s debacle was the alleged highhandedness of its leaders and workers. The Trinamool’s opponents, the BJP, the CPI (M) and the Congress, often accused it of extorting money from investors and builders and helping chit fund companies run their illicit financial trade. Thousands of poor and lower middle-class people lost crores of rupees to chit fund companies.

The Mamata Banerjee government faced huge embarrassment when many of its parliamentarians, ministers and senior leaders were sent to prison for their alleged links with such dubious financial companies.

The North Remembered

Ms Banerjee’s party did not win a single seat in north Bengal that has a sizeable Gorkha, Adivasi and Rajbanshi population. The Gorkhalis were angry because of Ms Banerjee’s abortive bid to impose the Bengali language on them, and the use of excessive force by her government when the Gorkhas took to the streets demanding protection of their linguistic and cultural rights and a separate state of Gorkhaland.

The Gorkhas and Adivasis, who predominantly live in tea estates, were unhappy because Ms Banerjee’s government did not support their demand for better wages, bonuses and basic amenities. Similarly, the Rajbanshis also complained of neglect of their areas by the government.

The South Remembered Too

In the rest of West Bengal, people were dissatisfied with Ms Banerjee for her failure to bring in investment and industries and create job opportunities.

Most importantly, Ms Banerjee’s all-out personal attacks on the Prime Minister upset a huge section of the population that is used to witnessing decent and learned arguments in public forums.

If Ms Banerjee failed to read the mind of the very people who put her in power, she let down the very parties she wanted to be with her in her fight against the BJP. She refused to give any political space to either the Congress or the Left parties.

As she tries her best to stop power and authority from slipping out of her grip, many wonder if it is overconfidence or ambition overdose that has pushed her into such a perilous situation. Until sometime ago, many of her ardent followers publicly wanted to see her as India’s Prime Minister.

Will it be ever possible for anyone without the support and blessing of his or her own people?

[Writes: Akshay Keshav Pradhan – is Advocate and an Assistant Professor in Law]

The post How Mamata lost people’s mamata? appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

However, it was a somewhat unfamiliar trend to fight the election under national party banner for MLA seat, as for better part of Darjeeling history the legislative assembly election was fought by regional political parties.

Nevertheless, it proved to be a masterstroke by the BJP, GNLF, and GJMM (Bimal) faction to capitalize on the strong feeling of resentment against the former Chairman of BoA, GTA, Mr. Binoy Tamang who has been accused of letting people down by allying with the TMC led state government. The strong undercurrent feeling against Tamang was finally revealed through ballots, and the silent voters suddenly became vocal about their desire.

No boasting of organizational strength, muscle flexing and allurement could sway the mood of silent voters who were determined to vote against Mr. Tamang. How, why, and what went wrong with their strategies may be the subject of review meeting of GJMM (Binoy) faction, but the writing is clear on the wall- that people have outrightly rejected them.

How far the influence of renegade leader Mr. Bimal Gurung helped to swing this election in BJP ‘s favor is a matter of speculation that would be open very soon. Politicians make strange bedfellows they say, and this has been proved in the hills in the prevailing political scenario, now the question is how would an alliance comprising of former sworn enemies GJMM and GNLF take up the political issues unitedly. If political maturity and sagacity prevail over the parochial interest of parties, then it would be the finest hours for hill people, when they will be united putting aside ideological differences and rising above the prejudices of their own parties. Gorkha community would win as a complete unit and send a unified message to both the state and center.

Now, the sudden transition towards nationalism from regionalism poses interesting questions. Specific regional demand for Gorkhaland statehood has been put to the back burner after many years to be replaced by the more euphemistic, vague and comprehensive term “permanent political solution“, which is open to subjective interpretation of every Tom, Dick, and Harry.

Nationalism was born due to colonial experience when the country had to unite regardless of differences in religion, language, culture, ethnicity, and culture to fight British imperialism. Post-independence, nationalism was threatened by rising regionalism, most prominent case stating formation on a linguistic basis. Subnationalism began to pour into the plural polity of India. The violent agitation in Tamil Nadu against the imposition of Hindi as a national language, clamor for new states all posed a threat to the national unity.

The unique trait of our constitution to provide for a federal unity that accommodated myriad of differences of language, region and religion were attributed to political thought during the freedom struggle, and this unique feature has been debated a lot today. Any subnational movement is viewed as a secessionist and anti-national movement by the state ignoring the causes deep-rooted to regionalism, a case in point is the 1986 Gorkhaland agitation in the eyes of West Bengal, which later was clarified by the PM late Rajiv Gandhi that it was not an anti-national movement.

Federalism is not just about state’s rights or regional autonomy, it is also about an equitable sharing of power and voice in decision making at an all-India center. Now the NDA has a clear majority, and I hope its mandate does not turn into majoritarianism that seeks to impose uniformity from above and respect federal space that seeks to forge national unity from below. Real nationalism, for me, would be a reflection of multiple regional identities of a diverse country like ours in harmony, and in that reflection, I want to see our separate state.

Writes: Saakal Ulysses Dewan

The post Election 2019: Darjeeling Shifts from Regionalism to Nationalism appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Raju Bista won the MP elections while Neeraj Zimba won the by-elections, both with a huge mandate. It may be recalled here that the BJP has promised in their ‘Sankalp Patra’ to provide a permanent solution to the issue of the Gorkhas, including granting them ‘scheduled tribe’ status. The victory is also seen as a public mandate to the historic alliance between GNLF and GJM of Bimal faction. With the coming together of GJM and GNLF, two of Gorkhaland’s strongest proponents, there is a new excitement among the people on how the alliance will deliver. 

In an added bonus to the BJP, the party also won all Lok Sabha constituencies in North Bengal including Alipurduars, Jalpaiguri, and Cooch Behar. Gorkha voters have a strong presence in these constituencies and the impact of the alliance could be felt across the region. John Barla, the famous tea garden leader won the Alipurduars seat with a huge margin as well.

Darjeeling General Assembly seat

A total of 1267270 voters had used their voting rights this elections. 

Raju Bista, the MP candidate polled 744657 votes (59.09 %) while his nearest rival candidate from TMC, Amar Singh Rai polled 335793 (26.65%). Sankar Malakar of the INC was a distant third with 64744 (5.14%) votes, followed by Saman Pathal of the CPIM with 50446 (4%) votes.

With this win, the Darjeeling MP Raju Bista also become the candidate with the highest vote margin in all of West Bengal.

Assembly By-elections

The total number of voters in the constituency are 142322

Neeraj Zimba, the BJP candidate polled 87896 (61.8%) votes while Binoy Tamang, an Independent candidate backed by TMC stood second with 41611 (29.18%). Amar Lama of JAP came a distant third with 3233 (2.27%) votes. 

Ironically, the Darjeeling MLA seat was left vacant after Amar Rai reigned the assembly seat to contest the MP elections, which he lost badly. The by-elections were called to fill the vacated seat by him the assembly. 

The post Elections 2019: Raju Bista and Neeraj Zimba Trounce TMC candidates appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Elections in 2019 are a different ball game altogether, and the factors influencing the elections are some of the most extreme. We have done our best to analyze all the influencing factors and this is what we are projecting to happen tomorrow.

Our Inferences

Please note that this is an ACADEMIC EXERCISE and not GOSPEL TRUTH… we do this to test our own understanding of the situation, and we are sharing the results so that we could hear from you all, what you make of our inferences.

• There are a total of 234997 eligible voters in Darjeeling Vidhan Sabha seat, out of which roughly 62% or 145698 individuals voted. 
• We expect Independent Candidate Swaraj Thapa to poll around 8% – We have attributed him high numbers based on traditional CPRM + Congress vote banks. CPRM polled around 5% in 2016 MLA elections, and Congress around 2% in 2011. We expect Mr. Thapa to attract an additional 1%.
• Independent candidate Sarada Rai Subba is expected to poll around 2.5%. This because Ms. Subba shared a good image and rapport with TMC supporters before she was unceremoniously removed from the party. Many in TMC are unhappy with having to vote for Binay Tamang. Ms. Subba thus attracts those TMC voters who would have otherwise voted for BJP or some other candidate, but not Binay Tamang. Her personal rapport among some sections of the masses will account for additional votes for her.
• We are expecting CPIM candidate KB Wattar to poll around 3%. In the 2011 MLA elections, CPIM had polled around 3.48% from Darjeeling LS Seat. Given that CPIM is a staunch cadre-based party, we expect Mr. Wattar to retain his votes, with a slightly reduced margin.
• We expect GRC candidate Amar Loksom to poll around 1.5% votes. In 2016 polls GRC had polled 2.33% and we expect this figure to go down this year.
• We expect JAP candidate Amar Lama to poll in around 4% of the votes. We have attributed him higher % owing to the fact that among the urban voters, he is seen as someone with intellect and clean image. His personal outreach and public image should garner him a respectable number of votes.
• We have accorded 2% votes to ABGL candidate Biplov Rai, as he is a fresh face in a very old and dying party. Majority of the votes he will poll, will be because of residue public sympathy for Late Madan Tamang. His own party leader Pratap Khati canvassing against him didn’t help his cause.
• We have accorded 1% votes to Independent Candidate Sanjay Thakuri, as we feel his own family and friend circle will vote for him and 1% was the least we could attribute. 
• The most interesting and significant battle in Darjeeling Vidhan Sabha seat is between TMC supported Binay Tamang and BJP candidate Neeraj Zimba
• Despite lack of turnout of urban voters, for 2019 Darjeeling Vidhansabha seat, we are projecting a very tight race, with BJP Candidate Neeraj Zimba having a slim lead over his closest competitor Binay Tamang.
• In 2016 MLA elections, TMC had polled in 28.53% of the votes, which had included TMC core cadres + JAP + GNLF votes.
• Given that in 2011, GNLF had polled 9.11% votes, we can safely assume that in 2016 – out of the 28.53% votes TMC had polled , JAP votes were at 1% and 10% were GNLF votes. TMC core votes being around 17%.
• This implies, that in 2019 – TMC votes will account for not more than 10% of the total votes polled. This is because post Gorkhaland agitation TMC has lost cadre base, and hardcore TMC supporters who are unhappy with Binay Tamang will shift their votes to Sarada Rai Suba. This translates to around 14000 votes in favor of Binay Tamang from TMC side.
• Since the MP elections, GNLF cadre base has grown significantly as compared to earlier years, so they are expected to poll around 20% of core votes. This translates to roughly 28000 votes for Neeraj Zimba
• The remaining 43% votes – which are core GJM voters, we have attributed 60% votes to Mr. Binay Tamang, and only 40% votes to Mr. Neeraj Zimba
• However reduced TMC votes, and increased GNLF votes are expected to give Mr. Zimba a lead of roughly around 1900 votes.
• We have attributed around 4.5% NOTA votes, this is because a large section of the youths are very unhappy with the political situation, and they want to make their statement felt. In 2014 MP elections NOTA votes stood at around 2%, whereas in 2016 MLA elections it stood at 4% for Darjeeling Vidhan Sabha seat. We have attributed a 0.5% increase in NOTA votes.
• However, we expect that any deviation from the NOTA votes will benefit Neeraj Zimba, rather than Mr. Binay Tamang as he is seen as the face of the system. 

Once again, we request our readers to see this as an ACADEMIC EXERCISE. Though we expect this analysis to hold, we concede that uncertainty is what makes politics so exciting. We will be humbled if proven right, but if we are proven wrong, we apologize in advance, and assure you we will learn from our mistakes and do our best to improve our analysis.

We thank everyone involved with this analysis and wish all the candidates good luck.

The post Elections 2019: Darjeeling Vidhan Sabha Poll Projections: TheDC Analysis appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

The 2019 Elections signaled a new political beginning in the Darjeeling hills as well. Nobody had imagined that GJM (Bimal) and GNLF would come together to fight the elections together. The GJM-GNLF alliance gave an upper hand to the BJP that was fighting against massive anti-incumbency sentiments. The test for the newly formed BJP-GJM-GNLF alliance was put through another test when the by-elections for Darjeeling were announced for 19th May. The alliance stuck together and fielded their consensus candidate for MLA seat as well.

TheDC announces its 2019 Opinion Poll based on what our readers have voted on the online poll we ran on our Social Media platforms.

General Elections 2019

For the MP Elections, the contest was between BJP’s Raju Bista and Amar Rai, the TMC candidate backed by GJM (Binoy faction).

• Total votes polled: 4.8K
• Amar Singh Rai, TMC – 884 votes (19%)
• Raju Bista, BJP – 3.8 K votes (81%)

Darjeeling By-elections

The MLA by-election was a close contest between the consensus candidate fielded by the BJP-GNLF-GJM (Bimal) alliance, Neeraj Zimba and the former GTA BoA Chairman, Binoy Tamang supported by the TMC. Benoy Tamang stepped down from his erstwhile position as the Chairman of GTA to fight this by-poll.

• Total votes polled: 4.5K
• Binay Tamang – 863 votes (19%)
• Neeraj Zimba – 3.6K votes (81%)

The post Elections 2019: NDA set to retain Darjeeling Seats, suggests Opinion Poll appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Wealthy Educated Bombers Masterminded the Sri Lanka Easter Massacre

Colombo, Sri Lanka: Serial blasts through three churches and three luxury hotels on Easter Sunday killed more than 300 people and many more injured. The picture above caught on CCTV is the suicide bomber walking in with the explosives in his backpack.

Do you ever get confused with the many names of radical Muslim outfits? Initially, a Sri Lankan local group called National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ), along with Lashkare-e-Taiba and Al Qaida were held responsible for the blasts. Now the IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has laid claim with a video and picture of a line up of seven suicide bombers who allegedly conducted the acts. Investigations so far have found the bombers to be local Sri Lankan Muslims. 

What has emerged from is a trend of wealthy and foreign-educated seemingly normal people turning extremists. Inshaf Ibrahim, 33, who bombed the Cinnamon Grand Hotel and his brother Ilham Ibrahim, 31, who bombed the luxury Shangri-la Hotel, belonged to a business tycoon family dealing in spices and copper. Horror upon horrors, when the Sri Lankan police went to their mansion in a posh neighborhood, Ilham’s pregnant wife Fatima detonated bombs killing herself, her three children and three officers! How individuals like these get so charged to kill innocent people including their own children is difficult to understand.

Senseless Waste of Money

Thousand and thousands of crores are spent during elections to win voters. Such a colossal amount of money if spent usefully could have made a huge difference to the lives of the Indian people. In Andhra Pradesh itself, the TDP (Telugu Desam Party) MP JC Diwakar claimed that 10,000 crore rupees were spent by all parties to attract voters. Candidates have individually spent Rs 50 crores. Voters in AP are bribed with Rs 2000 each. In other states, trucks of liquor deliver booze bottles and other gifts. Imagine the corruption and bribes behind all this money exchanging hands. If you want to do something for your country, take a back seat if you have no backing of funds. The Election Commission has to take a major stand against this in the future but that would be a colossal task. Meanwhile, we remain stuck with candidates who have the backing of major black money. With voters totally spoilt and greedy, the Indian democracy has become a farce.

Mamata to Send Teeth-breaking Sweets to Modi

Streaming and steaming hot on social media are PM Modi’s interviews, either on the pretty lawns of his official home or the picturesque banks of the River Ganga at Kashi. Modiji’s one-hour apolitical interview with actor Akshay Kumar was very relaxed and cheerful with no glimpse at all of his stern face. He reminisced about his childhood days of plucking fresh mango from trees and picking up Hindi while conversing with travelers as he served them tea at the railway station. All very well, except for, once again, for Didi B! Modiji pleasantly mentioned that Didi sent him kurtas (no wonder she remembers his chest size) and sweets every year.

Didi B who was at a rally in Serampore, caught on fast and retaliated that she will send Rossogollas to Modi, but not one vote will go to him. Further later at an Asansol rally she bristled even more, saying “Ham mitti ka mithai baneya ga or pathar bhor dega… aur poora daant tod dega, poora. Aisa, aisa mithai dega.” Ouch! Nasty, Nasty! Later at Kashi on being asked by Aaj Tak channel about the sweets, Modiji explained that for him, personal equations are different from political ideological differences. He said he used respect Mamataji, but she has changed a lot. In 2009 she spoke against Bangladeshi refugees and violence. But now it is the opposite. 

The post Sri Lanka Bomb Blasts and other stories appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

According to sources, a few sections of Sikkim Police have been deployed in Bengal as Central Forces for the Lok Sabha elections. They have been sent to Jangipur for the third phase of elections, which is scheduled on Tuesday.
Before the poll duty, some of the police personnel decided to spend some time to explore the area. On Saturday afternoon, five constables of Sikkim Police, including the missing one identified as Ningur Tshering Lepcha, went to the bank of Ganga.

All of them were taking a bath in the river when suddenly one of them noticed that Lepcha was missing. After waiting for him for almost one hour other constable informed their unit and superiors about the incident.
Immediately, police personnel from Raghunathgunj Police station went to the spot along with divers and started a search operation. Some local residents also went to the river to search for the missing police constable. However, till night Lepcha could not be traced. 

Again from Sunday morning search operation was conducted but till evening there was no trace of Lepcha. Sources informed that the search operation will continue on Monday as well. Lepcha’s family members have been informed in Sikkim. Other police stations adjacent to the Raghunathgunj police station area have been asked to keep a vigil on the banks of the Ganga.

They have provided with the details about Lepcha’s physical description.

The post Sikkim Police Constable on Poll Duty feared drowned in Ganga appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

However we have to ask ourselves if this election is only about electing an M.P. for the 17th Lok Sabha?

Gorkha Identity, Security and Constitutional Rights

To me this election is about our right, our security, our identity, and our very existence which has been is under  threat from  the Mamta Banerjee led TMC government of West Bengal.  This election is primarily about Gorkhas and Gorkhaland Vs. the veiled attempts at diluting and eventually eradicating the Gorkha identity  and the atrocities and injustices inflicted by Mamta Banerjee and TMC upon us and nothing else.

Therefore it becomes important for us to vote for the individual and the party that will work to ascertain and protect our identity, security, constitutional rights in the midst of relentless from a State government which has continued its onslaught in order to obliterate the Gorkha community since much before the 2017 agitation.

It is thus important to realize that TMC win will mean, we the Gorkhas have lost. Given the regional political dynamics, and the existing political reality facing our nation, I personally feel that BJP is the only political party that can withstand Mamata onslaught and will stand by the Gorkhas, against Mamata aggression. Hence, I request everyone from our region to vote for Raju Bista, the BJP candidate from Darjeeling.

Foundation of a strong political future

Politics is not for those who want immediate results and are impatient. In politics one needs to show resilience and persistence, and goals have to be set on long term-planning and thinking. We have shown patience and support for the BJP for the last ten years, and we continue to do so. In the past there have been grievances against the BJP from among us for not being with us at crucial times. However, the last couple of months has made it clear that there was a wall created between us and the party by some with vested interests, which subsequently led to communication gap. Now that the wall has been dismantled and the lines of communication opened between the leaders of BJP and us, things will move at a much faster pace and this gives us hope and an opportunity to make sure that they fulfill the promises made in their manifesto.

Given that BJP is going to form the government at the centre, their stand vis-a-vis Gorkhas is very important The BJP National President Amit Shah has already pronounced how he will shield us from the atrocities and injustices we have been experiencing at the hands of West Bengal.

For BJP to wrestling powers away from TMC in West Bengal is of utmost importance, and with our three legislative assembly seats in the hills and our ability to influence and to make a difference in 18 other MLA seats in North Bengal, we are an important cog in their wheel. This makes it imperative upon us to vote for BJP on the 18th April.

Manifesto and Mandate

The BJP election Manifesto says that it will include the 11 left out Gorkha jatis in the Schedule Tribe list and that they are committed towards providing a permanent political solution to the problems of Gorkhas.

The manifesto as it stands, is open ended and allows us and BJP to agree on a range of solutions from Sixth Schedule to Union Territory to State. Yes, Gorkhaland is our ultimate destination and we should not be agreeing on anything less than that. The BJP election Manifesto gives us ample scope to gradually move towards and realise the dream of Gorkhaland. The opposition has been playing foul and claiming that the word Gorkhaland has not been mentioned in the manifesto.

The question is, who are they to question BJP? They have forfeited their right to talk and discuss on the issue of Gorkhaland, the moment they went against the public demand and joined hands with those who crushed our dreams and aspirations, going to the extent of using brutal oppressive means, including  using police and other law enforcement agencies to harass, threaten, cajole, bully and frame innocent civilians, whose only crime was to support the Gorkhaland state demand.

As TMC candidate admitted in one of his interviews, “Gorkhaland does not feature in the TMC agenda neither does the word Gorkha appear anywhere in the TMC manifesto.” Therefore it is important that we vote for BJP and their candidate Raju Bista.

The Bimal Factor

During and after the 2017 agitation we have suffered a lot. We have been humiliated a lot. Now is our time to pay back. These two years have shown that Bimal Gurung has emerged as the defector captain of the Gorkhaland ship. He is the only one who has the tenacity, capacity, charisma and the mass appeal to inspire people to strive for a state of our own. With numerous false and unsubstantiated cases against him and many others, an endeavour is being made to render him insignificant in the hill politics.

In his absence, we have lost our political space, our public sphere, our rights and privileges as citizens, our security and identity. His return to the hills will guarantee the restoration of what we have lost, and will ensure freedom from the clutches of dictatorship and authoritarianism that is currently unleashed in our hills. Our votes will therefore lay the foundation of his return to the hills. Further, his return will also mark the downfall of those who have betrayed us in our collective fight against the TMC government.

He is the road to Gorkhaland and he has transformed into a folk hero in the collective imagination of the people and most importantly Mamta Banerjee, as was seen in the recent Freudian slip at the Kurseong jansabha.

Bimal Gurung cannot be brushed aside as some of his erstwhile lieutenants are trying to do, but the General of these lieutenants has herself accepted the relevance and significance of Bimal Gurung in the political sphere of Darjeeling and Gorkhaland.

His return and the return of our collective self-respect, which has been pawned by a few sellouts for their personal benefit will only be possible if BJP wins. This is why, I am voting for Raju Bista and so should you.

The post Vote for Gorkha Identity, Security and Constitutional Rights appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

In a section dedicated to the Gorkhas, the BJP Manifesto has promised two important points

गोरखा विषय का राजनीितक समाधान

हम 11 छुटी हुई भारतीय गोरखा उप-जातियों को अनुसूचित जनजाति का दर्जा देंगे l इसके साथ-साथ हम सिक्किम
विधानसभा में लिम्बू और तामांग जनजातिय हेतु आरक्षण लागू करने के लिए भी प्रतिबद्ध है।

हम दार्जीलिङ हिल्स् सिलीगुड़ी तराई और डुवार्स क्षेत्र का समस्या का स्थायी राजनीतिक समाधान खोजने की दिशा में काम करने के लिए प्रतिबद्ध है ।

We will recognise the 11 left out Indian Gorkha sub-tribes as Schedule Tribes. We are also committed to implement the reservation in the legislative assembly of Sikkim for Limboo and Tamang tribes.

We are committed to work towards finding a permanent political solution to the issue of Darjeeling Hills, Siliguri Terai and Dooars region.

Addressing the gathering, PM Modi said our manifesto aims at ‘One Mission, One Direction’. “India is a diverse country with different languages and culture, which is why we have tried to make our developmental processes multi-layered,” said PM Modi. He added, “we have also tried to make our manifesto multi-dimensional.”

Reacting to the development a GJM Bimal Faction leader said, “This inclusion of Gorkha issues as a separate section is significant. This goes onto show that the BJP cares for the Gorkhas deeply and is very aware of our aspirations, and need to find a permanent political solution to it. You may have noticed the word Gorkha doesn’t even find a single mention in Trinamool. Their sincerity towards our community is made evident in their Manifesto itself.”

Reacting to the BJP Manifesto, Mr Keshav Pokharel of GJM(BT) faction however said, “there is no mention of the word Gorkhaland or the long pending demand of the Gorkhas.. there is an ambiguity in the term political solution for the GNLF it’s 6th Schedule and for us it’s Gorkhaland.”

“Regarding ST issue the manifesto only promises but doesn’t deliver. Even after PM announced it in North Bengal it’s still not done. Why only fake promises and no work,” he added.

The post BJP Election Manifesto 2019 Promises: “ST Status” and “Permanent Political Solution” appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.