A new political rift is taking place in West Bengal politics especially in the northern districts. Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) founder, Bimal Gurung who has been part of the BJP led NDA, has moved to a much politically promising and recognizing political party in context of the local politics. Gurung duly extended his support to Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) breaking ties with BJP.

Bimal had been out of public sight since 2017, since he was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act when violence erupted in the Hills concerning the demand for statehood. He pledged his support for TMC and wished to see Mamata Banerjee again as the Chief Minister of Bengal for the third time.

Bimal Gurung feels that having been with the NDA, the numerous attempts to get the Hill tribes recognized by the government has gone in vain. He shared with the journalists in Kolkata that after several meetings with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the Home Minister, Amit Shah, none of the commitments made earlier in the past six years had been fulfilled. While the state’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has fulfilled all the promises she had committed with respective groups and organizations.

He further added that GJM will support the party that takes in consideration of the needs of the Gorkhas and the Hill tribes. All of this started with Bimal seeking BJP’s support to recognize the left out Indian Gorkha sub-tribes as Schedule Tribes and apparently this was to be done as per 2019 Sankalp Patra (Party Manifesto), which never took shape. Also, there were discussed commitments for the reservation of ‘Limboo’ and ‘Tamang’ Tribes in the legislative assembly of Sikkim.

GJM has been associated with BJP since 2009. It has played a crucial role in their wins in Darjeeling since 2009, and has helped in further seeking resolutions in Siliguri Terai and Dooars regions.

TMC has responded to Bimal’s political move and gesture on a positive note and has welcomed his action and shared a few lines on appreciating his move on the TMC Twitter handle.

Meanwhile, BPJ denied that it had promised a separate state to the GJM leader as mentioned by the State BJP chief, Dilip Ghosh. This decision by GJM is definitely being seen as a setback for the BJP in the North Bengal region that can potentially dampen the efforts for a favourable electoral result for BJP in the 2021 elections.