BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s tweet that he met Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung in Delhi on Saturday “for drafting a demand for autonomous region of Gorkhaland” but “within Bengal” has piqued politics in Darjeeling hills at a time when Lok Sabha elections are just a year away.
Swamy has in the past been vocal about creating a Union territory of Gorkhaland and enjoys considerable goodwill in the hills for his stand.
However, Swamy’s Sunday disclosure about his meeting with Gurung with a changed agenda has created new ripples in hill politics.
“…I met (Bimal) Gurung yesterday again at Satya Sabharwal Adv.’s (advocate) residence for drafting a demand for autonomous region of Gorkhaland within Bengal,” Swamy tweeted on Sunday morning.
Swamy’s disclosure comes at a time when Gurung had recently taken a lead in forming a “national committee” on Gorkhaland to pursue the statehood demand.
About half an hour later, Swamy again retweeted a tweet from a handle, Tejas, a verified account, where the content was changed to “ …..They discussed the strategy forward for Gorkhaland, as promised by BJP”.
BJP, however, has not promised “Gorkhaland” and in its manifesto only used the term “permanent political solution” without defining the structure. The second “retweet” was seen by many in the hills as a damage control measure for both Swamy and Gurung.
However, the damage was already done. Swamy’s move was criticised even by his own party MLAs from Darjeeling and Kurseong.
“Swamy has been recently advocating for ‘autonomous region for the Gorkhas’ within Bengal as he seems to enjoy a very cordial relationship with Bengal’s CM Mamata Banerjee of late,” said BJP Darjeeling MLA Neeraj Zimba.
Swamy had called on Mamata in Calcutta on August 18, 2022.
Swamy, tweeting for Union territory of Gorkhaland till recently, first changed his stand on February 24, 2023 with this tweet: “Gorkhas of Darjeeling require immediate autonomous region within Bengalfor which Bengal Assembly must pass a resolution. Mamata Banerjee is an able CM with single handed Assembly victories. Gorkhas need compassion and autonomy. They deserve it.”
Some in the hills, in view of these tweets, have alleged Swamy’s interest in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat with support from both Mamata and Gurung.
“Subramanian Swamy will be Bimal Gurung’s MP candidate for 2024 elections. Some touts from Darjeeling are in Delhi to sell Darjeeling MP seat like before. Swamy had also met Mamata Banerjee last year,” alleged Pratap Khati, leader of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL).
BJP Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, however, was guarded in his reply.
He said Swamy, a senior party leader, visited Darjeeling in 2015 and was “very familiar with the issues concerning our region and people”.
“I am not sure as to the topic or issues of deliberations (between Gurung and Swamy).... so I am not in a position to comment on it,” he said.
A cornered Gurung refused to accept Swamy’s tweet in totality.
“We gave him a draft explaining why we need Gorkhaland. He (Swamy) did talk about Sixth Schedule status within Bengal but we said that this could be accepted only if the 11 Gorkha communities are granted tribal status,” said Gurung over the phone from Delhi.
However, Gurung sounded ambiguous. While he stated he did not want autonomy within Bengal, he did raise a condition of tribal status to 11 Gorkha communities before granting Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling hills.
The Morcha chief had earlier stated that he was going to Haridwar on a personal visit and not to meet anyone.
