Bishnu Prasad Sharma, a BJP MLA from Kurseong in Darjeeling, reiterated the demand for the region’s “separation” from the state of West Bengal. The demand comes at a time when the state government was gearing up to hold elections in June for the local administrative body, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
Talking to DH, Sharma said he was not going to argue the “nomenclature”, but he stands for “separation” of the region.
“My stand is that there should be separation from West Bengal in any form. If not statehood, then a Union Territory with legislature, else without it. I came to the BJP with this stand,” Sharma said. “In north Bengal, deprivation is not only for Gorkhas, but for several ethnic groups. This is about preserving our culture and identity.”
The state chapter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had always maintained that the region required a “political solution”, especially considering several regional groups have campaigned in the past for a separate state.
National vice president, and former state president of the BJP, Member of Parliament Dilip Ghosh, however, clarified with DH that the BJP never spoke of forming another state out of West Bengal.
On the other hand, Trinamool Congress’s state general secretary Kunal Ghosh, stated that people of the state do not want division, and that the state is progressing under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He also clarified that if there were concerns, the state government was all ears to resolve them.