Darjeeling BJP MP Raju Bista met Union home minister Amit Shah for the third time in a month but is yet to extract a definite assurance that the BJP’s promises for the Darjeeling hills will be fulfilled before the end of the present Lok Sabha term, sources said.

Apart from meeting Shah three times, the last on Wednesday evening, Bista also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the same hill issues on December 20, 2023.

Bista apart, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) president Mann Ghisingh and BJP Darjeeling district (hill) president Kalyan Dewan were part of the delegation that called on Shah in Delhi on Wednesday evening.

“Amit Shahji has assured us that the BJP Government, under the leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, is genuinely committed to ensuring justice for the people of our region, and that the government is working towards fulfilling these issues,” said Bista in a written statement.

“On behalf of the people from Darjeeling hill, the Terai and the Dooars, I would like to thank Amit Shahji and applaud the efforts made by him in resolving these critical issues,” added Bista.

GNLF leader Ghisingh added: “I made a submission that it is time to fulfill the promises for which the people have waited for 15 years.”

The BJP promised to grant tribal status to 11 hill communities and a permanent political solution for the region in its 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto.

When The Telegraph asked Dewan whether Shah assured them of fulfilling the promises within this tenure, the BJP leader expressed confidence that his party would deliver but refused to give a particular deadline.

“The Union home minister is aware of our problem. Our MP Raju Bista is relentlessly pursuing the issue. The home minister is committed to resolving our issue which could happen during this (Lok Sabha) term or the next term,” said Dewan.

The BJP leadership has started building a narrative in the hills that there is no alternative to the BJP to resolve the Gorkha issue.

“It is only the BJP that is committed to resolve the issue of our region,” stressed Dewan.

However, reminded that the Congress had set up the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and also included the Nepali language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution, the BJP tried to play them down.

“Those were a mere eyewash. They have not solved our issues concerning identity. Yes, the language recognition was an important development,” said Dewan.

Many within the BJP agree that the local leadership is under pressure from residents. “Apart from its election promises not being fulfilled, the BJP is also seeing a rebel in Kurseong MLA B.P. Bajgain who is threatening to contest against the official party candidate if he is an outsider,” said an observer.

Bajgain considers even Bista an “outsider.” There are talks that former foreign secretary Harshvardhan Shringla may get a BJP ticket for the Darjeeling parliamentary seat.

“Bista is working relentlessly and has taken our issues to the highest level,” said Dewan, which can be seen as an indirect support to Bista.