Amit Shah pledges to resolve the Gorkha issue constitutionally and deliver a comprehensive development package for North Bengal if the BJP secures victory in the upcoming West Bengal elections.
Key Points
- Amit Shah promises a constitutional solution to the Gorkha issue in Darjeeling without dividing West Bengal if the BJP wins the election.
- The BJP's election manifesto includes north Bengal-centric development projects, including an eco-adventure hub in the Darjeeling hills.
- Shah pledges to end political violence, syndicate, and cut-money raj in West Bengal, prioritising the eviction of infiltrators.
- The BJP promises an AIIMS, a cancer hospital, IIT and IIM campuses, and a sports university in north Bengal.
- The Rajbanshi language will be included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, honouring a long-term demand.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the BJP, if voted to power in West Bengal, will resolve the Gorkha issue in the Darjeeling hills in a constitutional manner without dividing the state.
Addressing a poll rally in Gangarampur in Dakshin Dinajpur district, Shah referred to the BJP's election manifesto to offer a host of north Bengal-centric development projects.
"I want to tell my Gorkha brothers of Darjeeling that, once in power, the BJP will not only develop an eco-adventure hub in the hills, but also resolve the Gorkha issue in a constitutional manner without dividing the state," Shah said.
The century-old demand of the Nepali-speaking Indians in the Darjeeling hills for a separate state of Gorkhaland has repeatedly taken violent turns.
Despite the formation of the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in 2011 to administer the upper reaches of Darjeeeling and parts of the foothills, violent agitations took place till as late as 2017.
The region witnessed multiple twists and turns over political partnership between the local Gorkha parties, like the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), and bigger players like the BJP and TMC where the demand for a separate Gorkhaland have always acquired political centre stage.
In the upcoming polls, the TMC is in a strategic seat sharing alliance with the Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BJPM), a breakaway faction of Bimal Gurung's GJM, and has left the Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong seats to its partner.
The BJP, on the other hand, has yet again secured the support of Gurung, its former alliance partner in the hills, although the saffron party is directly contesting the polls from the region this time.
Focus on illegal immigration and development
Laying his thrust on the issue of illegal immigration in West Bengal, the Union home minister said that the BJP will end political violence, syndicate and cut-money raj in the state and evict infiltrators with priority.
"Press EVM buttons next to the lotus sign so hard that once they are pressed in regions of north Bengal, infiltrators across India can feel the electric shock," he said.
Shah has been paying regular visits to the state over the last few weeks and has held multiple rallies across the state in the run-up to the April 23 polls when voters in north Bengal districts would exercise their franchise, sharpening the infiltration issue as one of the most prominent poll planks of the saffron party.
West Bengal will vote in two phases, on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
Shah alleged that Aam Janata Unnayan Party founder Humayun Kabir was an "agent" of Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and claimed he was constructing the mosque styled on Babri Masjid with her consent.
"Humayun Kabir should listen with his ears open when I say the BJP won't allow the mosque to be built. Mamata Banerjee and her nephew should also know that their dreams of building that mosque will be shattered on May 5, a day after the votes are counted," he said at another rally in Manikchak in Malda district.
Kabir, an MLA from Murshidabad's Bharatpur, who has now formed his own party and is seeking re-election, was suspended from the TMC in December last year after he proposed the construction of a Babri-like mosque in the Beldanga area of the district.
Shah also promised that the supply of potatoes from West Bengal to other states will be opened up to ensure that the farmers get remunerative prices for their produce.
As part of the BJP's proposed development package for north Bengal districts, Shah also referred to the party's manifesto promising that an AIIMS, a state-of-the-art 600-bed cancer hospital, separate IIT and IIM campuses, and a dedicated sports university would be constructed in the region.
He said honouring a long-term demand of the people, the Rajbanshi language would be included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
