Expelled Tamang asks BJP to clear stand on Gorkhland

Darjeeling: Chairman of the Board of Administrators for Darjeeling Hills and expelled Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Binay Tamang has asked Union minister S.S. Ahluwalia and West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh to clear their stand on the Gorkhaland issue before setting foot in the Hills.

Mr Ahluwalia, the BJP MP from Darjeeling, and Mr Dilip Ghosh are scheduled to visit the Darjeeling Hills and neighbouring Sikkim from Tuesday to hold meetings with party workers and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership. Mr Tamang, a one-time close aide of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supremo Bimal Gurung said, 

“Nobody should try to disrupt normalcy in the Hills.” “We have helped BJP win the Lok Sabha elections from Darjeeling Hills twice in the past. We will not tolerate any attempt by them that disturbs the Darjeeling Hills,” he said. The West Bengal government had announced a formation of the Board of Administrators on September 20. 

The West Bengal government had replaced the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), and appointed Mr Binay Tamang as its chairman. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had called off the indefinite bandh in the Hills last week after a marathon 104 days following an appeal by the Union Home minister Rajnath Singh. The bandh was called in support of a separate Gorkhaland state in the Darjeeling Hills.