Union home minister Amit Shah, on his first Assembly election campaign in Darjeeling hills on Monday, said not a single Gorkha would be displaced by the National Register of Citizens (NRC) update process, at a time reports have emerged that many Gorkhas in neighbouring Assam have not found their names in the register.

On core issues of Darjeeling such as the permanent political solution and the demand to confer Scheduled Tribe status to 11 hill communities, Shah was brief and only referred to the BJP manifesto.

Addressing a crowd in Kalimpong after a road show, Shah said that “lies” were being spread that once the NRC is implemented, Gorkhas would be displaced.

“Even if the NRC comes, not a single Gorkha will be displaced. Trinamul is spreading lies that the NRC will come. NRC has not come and even if it comes, it will not affect Gorkhas,” said Shah.

Just a few days back, Gorkhas from Assam had issued messages regarding the problems faced by the community members and their exclusion from the register after Kurseong BJP MLA candidate, B.P. Bajgain, had spoken on Shah’s lines.

There was much expectation from Shah to provide an insight on core issues of Darjeeling which the hill residents have raised before the saffron camp. Shah, however, was found wanting. “All your issues are there in the ‘Sankalp Patra’ (manifesto) of the BJP,” is all that he said.

Even his statement on the tribal status was carefully worded. “In our ‘Sankalp Patra’, we have decided that by providing ST status to 11 Gorkha communities, BJP will secure your education and jobs,” said Shah.

The BJP’s promise on ST status has been there for the past seven years and this time, the hill populace wanted to hear something concrete on this promise.

Shah, meanwhile, promised a Gorkha language TV channel in Bengal for “education and entertainment”.

The Union home minister, however, urged the hill people to ensure that the three hill BJP candidates reach Bengal Assembly as this would be “a solution to all your problems.”

He also promised to set up a special investigation team to look into all “atrocities” against the hill people by the CPM in the 1980s and the Trinamul government in recent years.

Other promises made by Shah included prominent status to Gorkha language in Bengal, a Gorkha freedom fighter museum built at a cost of Rs 100 crore and package for a tourism hub in the hills.

Observers believe that the failure to address core issues could be exploited by BJP’s rivals to the hilt. However, a BJP supporter said: “Let’s not jump the gun, Amit Shah still has to address a meeting in Darjeeling on Tuesday.”

Earlier on Monday, Shah spoke in two other public meetings in Jalpaiguri and North Dinajpur districts.

In both, he elaborated on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and said that it would be implemented in Bengal, while focusing on the Matua population.

Shah also took a dig at Mamata over her demand for his resignation. After Saturday’s central force firing incident in Sitalkuchi, where four voters were killed, Mamata had demanded he resign.

“I am ready to resign if people of Bengal say so…but you should keep your resignation ready,” said Shah.