Modi gave patient hearing to our demands: GJM leader

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "committed" to the formation of a committee for identifying Gorkha majority areas in Terai and Dooars region of West Bengal, a senior Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader said on Saturday.

A seven-member GJM delegation led by party chief Bimal Gurung met Modi in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum last month to renew their demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

"It's a strange way with the politicians you know. They neither commit nor do they say no. He gave a patient hearing," MLA Harka Bahadur Chettri, who was part of the delegation, told the media here.

"He (Modi) has okayed a committee to identify the Gorkha majority areas in Terai and Dooars. That he has committed," Chettri said.

"This was actually mentioned in their election manifesto both in 2009 and 2014. So if that is done the process will begin but I don't know how much time it will take," he said on the sidelines of the second Nepali literary symposium organised by the Bharat-Nepal Janamaitri Sanskritik Manch.

During his Lok Sabha election campaign in Siliguri last year, Modi said: "Gorkha ka sapna, mera sapna hai (The dream of Gorkhas, is my dream)."

Chettri said the BJP will not spoil their own chances of gaining seats in the forthcoming elections in the state by giving "a lot of wind" to the GJM's requests.

"... because they have an eye on the forthcoming municipal elections. The BJP is hoping they will get some seats. Then immediately in 2016 there is the assembly election. So by giving a lot of wind to our demands they don't want to jeopardise their positions in the upcoming elections," the leader said.

The GJM has been demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland to be carved out of parts of Darjeeling and its neighbouring Jalpaiguri district.