Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed poll rallies in West Bengal, promising to resolve the Gorkha issue constitutionally and offering a development package for north Bengal if the BJP is voted to power.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has pledged that the BJP will prioritise resolving the Gorkha issue in Darjeeling and withdraw cases against community leaders if elected in West Bengal. He criticised Mamata Banerjee's government for non-cooperation and assured a constitutional solution.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah promised to resolve the decades-old Gorkha issue within six months if the BJP comes to power in West Bengal, addressing a rally in Kurseong, Darjeeling district.
The meeting was attended by the GJM, the GNLF, the Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha, the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (apolitical) and the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists.
The BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition party in West Bengal after winning 77 seats in the assembly polls last year, failed to win even a single civic body.
He died in New Delhi on Thursday at the age of 78.
The statehood issue and implementation of the sixth schedule of the Constitution have been the major demands in the hills since the beginning of the protracted Gorkhaland movement in 1986.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha activists demanding release of some of their supporters went on the rampage on Friday, setting ablaze the house of a Gorkha National Liberation Front leader in Darjeeling district and hurling stones at the police when they intervened, leading to a baton charge on them.
While a group led by Binay Tamang wants to end the shutdown, the mainstream GJM, led by its supremo Bimal Gurung, wants the status quo to continue, reports Avishek Rakshit.
The Army was kept on stand-by as violence erupted in Darjeeling Hills after ruling GNLF leader K G Gurung was grievously injured in an alleged attack by rival GJMM activists on Friday.
GNLF leader Shanta Chetri, who retained her Kurseong seat for two consecutive terms in the assembly polls, told reporters on Friday that there was no reason to surrender the demand for Gorkhaland.
After the prolonged GNLF movement, as well as the agitations by the 'Uttar Banga Tafsili Jati/Jan Jati Adivasi Sangathan', Uttarkhand and Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, the GCPA's demand has put the Buddhadev Bhattacharjee government in a fix.
Subhas Ghising has been called to New Delhi for tripartite talks.
'A master politician who excelled in the politics of intrigue, Subash Ghisingh kept winning election after election, sending a clear message to the state and central governments that he remained the undisputed king of the Darjeeling hills.'
Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toytrain station and clashed with the police at two places.
'Winning this election will take us a step closer to realising our dreams'
In a climbdown, Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, spearheading an indefinite bandh in Darjeeling hills for the last 10 days to demand Gorkhaland state, on Mondy said it would not use force to enforce the shutdown but a 'janata curfew' would be held as announced from Tuesday.
Hurling petrol bombs and stones, Gorkhaland supporters on Thursday fought pitched battles with police, who broke up protests, bursting teargas shells and baton-charging violent crowds, plunging Darjeeling hills into deeper turmoil.
