TMC loses ally amid Hills crisis
Darjeeling, June 14: The political crisis in the Darjeeling hills took a new turn on Wednesday with the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) breaking its alliance with the ruling TMC after having joined hands with agitation spearhead Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, saying the party has been fighting for Gorkhaland since its inception.
Emboldened by the GNLF aligning with his party, GJM chief Bimal Gurung threatened to intensify the movement for a separate Gorkhaland even as the indefinite shutdown in the government and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration offices entered its third day.
Darjeeling (WB), June 14: Breaking its alliance with the TMC, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) on Wednesday justified joining hands with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading a bandh in Darjeeling, and said the party has been fighting for a separate Gorkhaland since its inception.
The GNLF, formed by the late firebrand leader Subhash Ghisingh, had led a violent movement for Gorkhaland in the eighties, following which the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) was formed.
Bimal Gurung broke away from the GNLF and formed the GJM in 2007 and subsequently emerged as the dominant force in the hills.
“The GNLF, since its inception in the eighties under the leadership Subhash Ghisingh, has been fighting for Gorkhaland. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a separate state of Gorkhaland,” Neraaj Zimba, spokesperson of the GNLF, told PTI.
“The Gorkhas were ditched by the successive state governments. We now feel that the atmosphere in the hills is fully conducive for the creation of a separate state. The GJM is also an ally of the NDA, which is in power at the Centre,” he said.
Asked why did the GNLF join hands with the GJM, its sworn enemy in the hills, Mr Zimba said, “It is true that we have our own differences, but for the sake of the people we have decided to keep aside our differences and fight for Gorkhaland.”
He said the alliance with the Trinamul Congress (TMC) was never a political or ideological one, but an electoral tie-up and the TMC was trying to deflect attention from the real demand of Gorkhaland through “doles and charity”.