Kurseong BJP MLA B.P. Sharma (Bajgain), who had raised the Gorkhaland issue in the Bengal Assembly thrice, announced on Thursday that he would not indulge in politics using the “Gorkhaland” word following his dismal performance in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency in the general election.

Bajgain had revolted against the BJP, saying the party was not serious about the Gorkhaland demand, and had contested from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat as an Independent.

Bajgain secured 7,447 of around 13.9 lakh votes polled in total. He trailed behind NOTA whose count was 18,021.

“Following the result, I have decided not to pursue politics using the Gorkhaland word. The mandate I have received tells me that I should not speak on Gorkhaland,” Bajgain told The Telegraph on Thursday.

BJP candidate Raju Bista secured around 6.7 lakh votes while runners-up Gopal Lama of the Trinamool Congress polled 5 lakh votes.

“I decided to contest the election as the TMC does not support Gorkhaland and the BJP was not serious either. In fact, during the election, the BJP also removed the world PPS from the manifesto,” said Bajgain.

In its 2019 election manifesto, the BJP had promised a “permanent political solution” (PPS) for the hills.

“Ultimately, the people seem to align with either the Centre or the state, either of which is in favour of Gorkhaland,” said Bajgain.

He had secured around 77,000 votes in Kurseong in the 2021 Assembly elections.

“I felt I had been elected on the issue of Gorkhaland. This is why I had raised the Gorkhaland issue in the Assembly thrice and even revolted against my party when it did not show seriousness on the issue,” said Bajgain.

The MLA said he had not expected to win the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.

“I was at least expecting to garner around 20 per cent of the total votes cast. This could have proved that some people are serious about the Gorkhaland demand,” said Bajgain who added that he might “not even indulge in politics” in future.

“I did not enter politics to earn money. Nevertheless, our people will regret when they reflect on this result in years to come,” said the BJP legislator.

Bajgain had said he would contest the general election as an Independent if Bista was renominated from Darjeeling. The MLA said Bista was an outsider as he is from Manipur.

The Kurseong MLA also met Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung before filing the papers.

Bajgain’s critics said that it was absolutely clear that he would not win the election and they felt he was indirectly trying to help the TMC by cutting into the BJP’s votes.