Keeping its options open after the first phase of West Bengal elections, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) said today that in case of a hung assembly in the state it will support any alliance which will make the Gorkhaland a reality. If wins, the party candidates will raise the Gorkhaland issue in Assembly and will resign if the response is not positive.
“We are contesting in four seats and with the hills seeing an average voting percentage of about 70 to 80 per cent, the party has a strong possibility to win on all these constituencies. In case of a hung assembly, we will back the alliance which will support the formation of Gorkhaland, whether it is Trinamool Congress or the Left,” said Harka Bahadur Chetri, the GJM spokesperson. The party is fielding candidates in the three hill seats — Kalimpong, Kurseong and Darjeeling — and Kalchini in the Dooars. He further added that if the new government and the Assembly reject the Gorkhaland proposal the GJM MLAs will resign.
The party is supporting a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate at Madarihat constituency in Jalpaiguri district and in all the other constituencies it is extending support to the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance. “Our aim is to uproot Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) rule from the state. Hence, the GJM is in favour of all anti-CPM forces,” Chetri added.
However, it may not be a cakewalk for the Bimal Gurung-led party as it is facing tough fight from the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) in the Hills. A total of 16 candidates of different parties are in the fray in the three hill constituencies — Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.
In Darjeeling the contest is between Trilok Dewan of the GJM and Bharati Tamang, president of the ABGL, while in Kurseong, the fight will be mainly between the GJM’s Rohit Sharma and the GNLF’s Pemu Chettri. However, in Kalimpong constituency, the main contenders are Chetri himself and Prakash Dahal of the GNLF.
“If we win, it will be a clear verdict from the people in favour of Gorkhaland. It is like a referendum. We will also see how Subash Ghisingh’s party will be rejected,” Chetri said. The GNLF had won all the three seats in the Assembly elections five years ago.
