The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance on Saturday was dealt a heavy blow after Gorkha Janmukti Morcha announced it was pulling out of the alliance. GJM organising chief LM Lama accused the BJP of betraying the trust of Gorkhas.
Referring to a statement by Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh that the saffron party only had an electoral alliance with the GJM, Lama said that it made ‘amply clear that the BJP is neither sympathetic nor sincere towards the Gorkhas.’
“The claim made by the BJP, leader of NDA, that GJM is a friend and a constituent of the NDA and the slogan of PM Modi that the dream of the Gorkhas is my dream have all been exposed by the statement of the Bengal BJP president Sh. Dilip Ghosh who stated that the BJP only had an electoral alliance with GJM and that there was no agreement for a common political resolution. This statement makes it amply clear that the BJP is neither sympathetic nor sincere towards the Gorkhas,” Lama was quoted by Indian Express.
Lama also reminded how his party had ‘gifted’ the Darjeeling seat twice to the BJP, first in 2009 when Jaswant Singh won from here and in 2014 when SS Ahluwalia was fielded as the BJP candidate.
“Darjeeling has been the political gateway to Bengal for BJP and this has been possible only because of GJM. For so many years the people had hoped that our issues would be addressed and resolved. However, BJP has only betrayed the people time and again. It is because of BJP that the hills of Darjeeling are today enveloped in an environment of mistrust and political disturbance,” Lama was further quoted as saying.
The latest setback to the BJP-led NDA comes just days after the Telugu Desam Party decided to walk out of the alliance. N Chandrababu’s party had later announced its intention to bring in a no-confidence motion against the central government.
Another NDA alliance partner, Shiv Sena, has already severed ties with the BJP at the Centre. The Shiv Sena, the Left parties and Congress have announced that they will support the no-confidence motion against the government.
Earlier, NDA’s other alliance partners including Ram Vilas Paswan and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too had lectured the BJP on protecting the interests of Dalits and minorities in the country.
