In a major jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has moved out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in West Bengal. The breakup has happened at a time when the state is gearing up for Assembly election in 2021. The announcement was made by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung in capital Kolkata.
While speaking to the media Gurung said, "We are walking out of NDA as BJP-led dispensation did not fulfil its promises. In 2021 Bengal Assembly elections, we will support Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and fight against BJP."
"We are in Kolkata and the party that we supported, we made them win the MP seat by helping BJP. Three terms we have helped them win. Our vision is to get Gorkhaland and whoever will support the Gorkhaland we will support the party," he added.
Gurung expressed his displeasure over BJP not acknowledging the demands of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. He said, "12 years have passed, what happened to the commitments? The tribal status was also not done by the central government. Three years, I had to stay away from home. In the central government, be it the Prime Minister or Home Minister they didn’t fulfil the promise. In the coming election in 2021, we want to go into alliance with TMC and give an answer to BJP. We will elect them to power."
Gurung, on the run since 2017 following an agitation for statehood in Darjeeling, was on Wednesday spotted outside Gorkha Bhavan in Salt Lake area near Kolkata, where he had arrived to address the press conference.
Surprisingly, Gurung wasn't arrested by the police present at the venue. It is to be noted that Gurung is charged with more than 150 cases including those under UAPA, for his alleged involvement in the agitation three years ago.
For the first time, Gurung was spotted in the open following the Darjeeling unrest in 2017. Since then he has been evading arrest