Bhartiya Janta Party chief Amit Shah’s letter to Darjeeling MP Raju Bista has sparked a new controversy in Gorkhaland issue. Use of the word “Gorkhaland” has not gone well with the ruling party in Bengal.
In July, Raju Bista has written a letter to Amit Shah. It was over the issue that the Delhi Police ignored Gorkhas while forming its special cell to eliminate racist incidents against North-eastern people. He said that Gorkhas are being left out in the national capital.
In response, Amit Shah assured him that his concerns for the people of “Gorkhaland and Ladakh area” is under careful observation. The word “Gorkhaland” used in the letter has created tension in the state of West Bengal. Trinamool Congress has accused the Home Minister of dividing the state.
Speaking on the matter, senior Trinamool Congress leader and minister Gautam Deb assured that with TMC ruling the state, no one can break the state.
TMC leaders alleged that since there exists no place named Gorkhaland in the state, what was the need of using the name? The party also accused ruling BJP government of dividing the state. To this, Raju Bista replied that he only expressed his concerns for the residents of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
Raju Bista explained that the birth of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) happened because of a tripartite agreement between the TMC government, Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), and the Congress government. He asked if they can use the word Gorkhaland, why can’t he use the word to refer the people of that area.
The political tensions regarding Gorkhaland have risen owing to the fact that some hill parties are demanding UT status for Darjeeling after the scrapping of Article 370.
Interestingly, BJP has secured a stronghold in Northern West Bengal after Lok Sabha polls. This has increased the political heat over the issue.
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