The BJP has renewed its focus on north Bengal, a region the party sees as its stronghold, keeping in mind the panchayat polls next year. Rural elections will be held in the Darjeeling hills after a gap of over 20 years.

While a number of senior BJP leaders flocked to the hill town on Saturday and reiterated their “sympathetic” attitude towards the Gorkhas, a group of central leaders who are in charge of Bengal will arrive in Siliguri on Sunday to start district-level visits.

Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar told party supporters in Darjeeling on Saturday that he understood the “aspirations and sapna (dream)” of Gorkhas, but asked to elucidate later, he said “this is between Gorkhas and us”.

Since 2009, the BJP has won three consecutive Lok Sabha elections from Darjeeling but the party’s promise to find a solution to the problems of Gorkha, which many in the hills interpret as a separate state of Gorkhaland, has not yet been met.

In April 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had during an election rally in Siliguri said: “Gorkha ka sapna, mera sapna (The dreams of the Gorkhas are mine too).”During his speech on Saturday, Majumdar broached the “sapna” of Gorkhas at an event where a large number of people joined the BJP at the Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Samellan (GDNS) Hall in Darjeeling.

“I am aware of the aspirations of the Gorkhas and what their sapna is,” Majumdar said, adding that very few people knew that he lived in Darjeeling for two years while teaching at Darjeeling Government College.

“I can understand your language and also speak a bit of Nepali,” Majumadar said in a clear attempt to connect with the crowd.

Later during an interaction with the media, The Telegraph asked Majumdar about his understanding of the aspirations and dreams of the Gorkhas. “This is between the Gorkhas and us. I will not tell you,” the BJP leader replied.

Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, in his speech, sounded confident that a solution would be worked out for the people of the hills.Majumdar said that since the issue of a “permanent political solution” was long, it would take time. “The permanent political solution would be worked out keeping in mind the interests of the hills, Bengal and the national interest,” he said.

Majumdar made it clear that the BJP would contest the municipality elections in Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik along with the panchayat polls next year.

In Siliguri, BJP leaders and workers are gearing up for the visit by Sunil Bansal, Asha Lakra and some other central leaders whom the party has assigned to work in Bengal to consolidate the support base.

On Sunday, they will hold a meeting with leaders of Darjeeling, Siliguri and Jalpaiguri. They will then proceed to Malda and Raiganj where similar meetings would be held.“They will speak with leaders to collect information and will also take stock of the station. The idea is to draw up a plan on the basis of the information gathered through the visits to strengthen the party across the state, especially in north Bengal,” said a state BJP leader.

Additional reporting by Avijit Sinha in Siliguri