Darjeeling resident Birendra Rasaily on Friday started a hunger strike in front of BJP MP Raju Bista’s residence at Matigara in Siliguri, demanding the legislator’s clarification on the “permanent political solution” or PPS and the Scheduled Tribe status to 11 hill communities — two promises made by the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“I and my family members and thousands of other residents of Darjeeling supported the BJP and elected him (Bista) as the MP. Being a common voter, I had appealed to the MP on December 25 to tell us within 48 hours about the status of those promises. As he did not come up with any clarification, I started a relay hunger strike today,” said Rasaily, a lawyer by profession.
On December 22, Rasaily had resorted to a similar protest in front of Bista’s residence.
At that time, Neeraj Zimba, the BJP MLA of Darjeeling, assured him that once the MP returned from New Delhi, Bista would clarify.
Rasaily said he had withdrawn the hunger strike based on the MLA’s assurance.
“As I didn’t find any clarification from the MP, I launched the hunger strike again. It will continue unless he speaks up,” said the lawyer.
Every day, he will sit on the strike from 10am to 4pm.
Bista and Zimba, the Darjeeling MLA, could not be contacted.
Calls made to them went unanswered.