The most keenly watched contest in north Bengal, in Darjeeling that goes to polls today, is witnessing a curious conflict among contenders over the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.
The BJP secured this lone seat in West Bengal in 2009 on the promise of Gorkhaland that led the local political force, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), to lend support to its now expelled leader Jaswant Singh. But this year, the BJP has tied itself in knots over its stand on Gorkhaland.
In the party’s manifesto released on April 7, there was no mention of the issue or how the party intends to respond to the demand for statehood by the local Gorkha population.
The oversight was sought to be hastily corrected later the same night. The local BJP candidate SS Ahluwalia parleyed with the central leadership with the result that Arun Kumar Jain, an office secretary in the BJP, issued an addendum to the manifesto late on April 7.
“Further to the Election Manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party released today for the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the BJP reiterates that it will sympathetically examine and appropriately consider the long pending demands of the Gorkhas, the Adivasis and other people of Darjeeling district and the Dooars region; of the Kamtapuri, Rajbongshi and other people of north Bengal (including recognition of their language),” the addendum read.
Expression of contempt The Opposition, especially Mahendra P Lama, pro Vice Chancellor of IGNOU and former Vice Chancellor of Sikkim University who is contesting as an Independent from Darjeeling, asserts that this is an expression of “contempt” towards the people of Darjeeling.
“The BJP first decided not to mention Gorkhaland in the manifesto at all. Then they issued an addendum not even signed by the appropriate authority, which would have been the Chairman of their Manifesto Committee Dr Murli Manohar Joshi.
“Thirdly, there is nothing new in what they say and the word separate statehood doesn’t find any mention,” Lama told Business Line .
Lama quoted a “contemptuous” speech by Narendra Modi about Gorkhas, describing them as “security guards” to underline the BJP’s attitude towards people of north Bengal hills.
“The GJM has been collaborating with the BJP for two terms. Sitting MP Jaswant Singh didn’t utter a word about Gorkhaland in Parliament and has now chosen to desert this constituency. We now have Mr Ahluwalia whose PM candidate has insulted the people of Darjeeling by maintaining that we are fit only to be security guards. I demand an apology from Modi, Ahluwalia and the GJM,” he said.
Ahluwalia said the “oversight” is a result of the confusion about the release of the manifesto. “The manifesto was to be released after Ramnavami (April 8). But there was a direction from the Election Commission which led us to bring the dates forward. But a correction was immediately issued which is part of the manifesto,” he said over phone from Darjeeling.
Votes division Ahluwalia alleged that Lama is an “agent of the intelligence agencies” who has been “set up to divide the Gorkh vote”.
He despatched an SMS sent to him by P Arjun, a spokesperson for Lama, declaring “conditional support to Ahluwalia if Narendra Modi declares that he will introduce a Bill in Parliament for creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland within six months of assuming power.” He asserted that these “gimmicks” will not help and the BJP will win in Darjeeling once again.
Incidentally, elsewhere in Bengal, the BJP is not too vocal about the demand for Gorkhaland. The party hopes to increase its vote share in the State and a separate Darjeeling does not resonate well in the rest of West Bengal.