Development overshadows Gorkhaland demand in Darjeeling

Darjeeling The picturesque Darjeeling hills in West Bengal is gearing for a pitched battle between two Gorkhas in the Lok Sabha elections as development and restoration of democracy top the poll planks relegating the longstanding demand for a separate Gorkhaland to the backgroundFor the first time in three decades the call for a separate Gorkhaland state is not a poll issue in the hills with parties including the indigenous GJM and GNLF stressing on minimum wages for tea workers potable water electricity education and employmentThe Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency which goes to polls on April 18 is set to witness a keenlyfought battle between the two warring factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha GJM one led by its supremo Bimal Gurung and his onetime protege Binay Tamang Gurung is supporting BJPs Raju Singh Bisht while Tamang is in favour of TMCs Amar Singh Rai The saffron party also has the support of another prominent hill party the Gorkha National Liberation Front GNLF The polls will establish who between Gurung and Tamang is the supreme leader of the hills The people of the hills are with Gurung Tamang has compromised with the TMC in order to serve his own vested interests Loksang Lama the working president of the Bimal Gurung faction of the GJM saidLamas view were echoed by leaders of the Tamang camp who felt whoever loses will no longer be accepted as a leader of the Gorkhas The ruling TMC in West Bengal is yet to win the Darjeeling seat even once since its inception in 1998 while the BJP has emerged victorious twice We are stressing on the overall development of the hills which it has been deprived of for the last 10 years Our agenda is development The BJP MPs have done nothing for the people of the hills said RaiThe TMC is against the separate state of Gorkhaland The BJP and Gurungs faction of the GJM feels restoration of democracy which has been missing following the 104day long strike in the hills over the demand of Gorkhaland in 2017 is the most important aspect in the polls People here will vote for restoration of democracy in the hills They havent forgotten the atrocities committed by the TMC during the agitation Bisht told PTI He said a permanent political solution is the need of the hour in Darjeeling but remained noncommittal on the demand for a separate statehoodDarjeeling dominated by the Gorkha community besides the Lepchas the Sherpas and the Bhutias has a total of 16 candidates in fray including TMCs Rai BJPs Bisht CPIMs Saman Pathak and Congresss Shankar MalakarApart from three hill assembly segments Darjeeling Kurseong and Kalimpong which are held by the GJM the constituency also includes four other assembly segments in the foothills and plains MatigaraNaxalbari Siliguri Phansideoa and ChopraTwo are held by the Congress and one each by the CPIM and the TMC The Darjeeling seat located between the IndoBangla border and the IndoBhutan border with Sikkim as neighbour is of immense strategic importance as the Siliguri Corridor is considered to be a lifeline or chickens neck to the entire north east The constituency has a total of 1598863 voters out of which 806298 are male and 792543 femaleDarjeeling was represented by BJP leaders Jaswant Singh and Surinder Singh Ahluwalia in Parliament in 2009 and 2014 respectively with support of the GJMIn 2014 the BJP had won the seat by securing 4273 per cent votes whereas the TMC bagged 2547 percent votes The statehood demand and implementation of the sixth schedule of the Constitution had been major poll planks in the hills at various times since the beginning of the protracted Gorkhaland movement in 1986The BJP which is eyeing a third term in the constituency has made no mention of Gorkhaland in its manifesto It has however promised Scheduled Tribe tags for 11 Gorka subcommunities Meanwhile CPIMs Pathak hoped that people would vote for the party as both the TMC and the BJP failed the people of the constituencyCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates