Fulfill The Promise : BJP Legislator Writes To JP Nadda, Demands Separation Of Darjeeling From West Bengal

7th December 2021

NET Web Desk

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Kurseong, Bishnu Prasad Sharma has written a letter to the national president of the party JP Nadda, seeking the separation of Darjeeling from West Bengal.

This letter intents to remind the national President of his promise for finding a permanent political solution on the same.

“Yes, I have written to our party’s national president requesting him to honour the promise of a permanent political solution made during 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 assembly polls. It is because of that promise, people of the Hills have voted for the BJP since 2009 Lok Sabha polls.” – asserted the MLA.

“For them, a permanent political solution means freedom from the clutches of West Bengal – be it in the form of a separate state or a union territory,” – Sharma told PTI on Monday.

Sharma further claimed that Darjeeling residents have witnessed severe violent movements depicting the issue, and they don’t want to be a part of West Bengal.

The MLA asserted that demand for a separate statehood is not at all connected with the party’s Bengal unit.

However, the ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) cited the move as “insane and unreal”.

According to state parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee, this act is basically an outcome of BJP’s political strategy, which has been trying to fan separatism and plotting bifurcation of Bengal for political reasons.

It’s worthy to note that Gorkha residents in Darjeeling have long been demanding separation from the state on ethnic grounds as well as on the basis of differences in language, culture, tradition and even topography.

According to reports, the hilly tract (Darjeeling & Kalimpong) belonged to the kingdoms of Sikkim and Bhutan, which were taken over by the British through various wars and treaties.

Gorkhas claim that first voice of separation had been raised in 1909 by the Hillmen’s Association, demanding a separate administrative arrangement. However, it’s demand gained momentum under the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) in the 1980s.