Despite Unfulfilled Promises, Darjeeling Favours The BJP

On the outskirts of a tea garden in Takdah of West Bengal바카라�s Darjeeling district, Bimal Subba sips his first flush바카라�without milk and sugar바카라�at his small, roadside hardware shop, looking bored. A few political workers are distributing leaflets in the vicinity. The middle-aged man shows no interest.

On a clear day, the mighty Kangchenjunga glitters on the other side of the road. But it is one of those dark and depressing weeks when people yearn for a ray of sunlight. Dense fog and clouds have wrapped every hill and mountain peak, hiding one from the other due to the absence of visibility.

Subba sounds depressed. 바카라�Gorkhaland is the hearts of every Gorkhali-speaking people. The BJP has fooled us for 15 years promising to take us closer to Gorkhaland. It바카라�s nowhere closer than what it was before Narendra Modi became the prime minister. But what alternative do we have? The State will never concede to our demand.바카라�

Gorkhali is another name for the Nepali language, spoken by the people of Nepali ethnic groups, who live in Nepal and parts of Nepal-bordering northern and eastern India, predominantly in the Darjeeling hills, comprising Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong hill stations, and Sikkim.

Historically, the words Gorkha and Nepali have been used interchangeably to refer to the same ethnic group. The language is one of India바카라�s official languages, listed as Nepali. But in Darjeeling, people of Nepali ethnic groups prefer to call themselves Gorkha and their language Gorkhali.

바카라�One of the pitfalls of having people of the same ethnic group on the other side of the border, with a country of their own, is that Darjeeling바카라�s Nepali-speaking people are often suspected as Nepali nationals in different parts of India,바카라� says Prakash Lama, a small trader in Tinchuley village, Darjeeling.

바카라�That바카라�s one of the reasons we want Gorkhaland, an Indian homeland for us,바카라� Lama says, as he takes a break from serving tourists at his small eatery.

There is no dearth of issues that the likes of Subba and Lama like to highlight바카라�from insufficient electricity coverage and water scarcity to poor roadways and unstable mobile networks; lack of medical facilities and job opportunities. Along the Teesta River, erosion and flood damage victims complain of neglect by both parties.

But to many, the solution to all these administrative deficiencies lies in getting a state of their own바카라�when the hills are governed from Darjeeling, and not Kolkata.

Of West Bengal바카라�s major political parties, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee바카라�s Trinamool Congress (TMC), the CPI(M) and the Congress are strongly opposed to any division of the state.

Modi바카라�s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won Darjeeling three times on a trot, trouncing the Congress in 2009 and the TMC in 2014 and 2019, by announcing its sympathies for the struggle of Darjeeling바카라�s Gorkhas. But they have not kept their promises.

At present, both the TMC and the BJP enjoy the backing of a section of Gorkha political leadership.

While the TMC hopes to gain from the division in Gorkha바카라�s political leadership, the big question that remains to be answered is whether the Gorkha leaders aligning with the TMC have managed to effect a change of heart among the hill population towards the state바카라�s ruling party.

Didi바카라�s Big Hurdle

The Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven assembly segments바카라�three in the hills and four in the foothills and plains. The hills have traditionally shown a different voting pattern than the plains바카라�the former goes overwhelmingly in support of one party and the latter witnesses close contests.

But the BJP바카라�s rise in the foothills and the plains since 2019바카라�riding a Hindutva wave created by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) family of organisations바카라�has broken that pattern.

Going by the 2021 assembly election trends, the BJP and its allies were leading over the TMC and its allies in five of the seven assembly seats and had a lead of about two lakh votes over the TMC and its allies.

The hills have not favoured Banerjee since the 2017 statehood agitation. Alleged police excesses in response to the agitation turned the TMC into a villain in the eyes of many local people.

Nirmal Chettri, who runs a cigarette and paan (beetle leaves) shop in Kalimpong바카라�s Khasmahal, echoes Subba: 바카라�The BJP hasn바카라�t done anything, but the state바카라�s ruling party바카라�s victory will mean a setback to Gorkhaland aspirations. As long as opposition parties win, hope remains.바카라�

Curiously, Banerjee바카라�s face is missing from the party바카라�s campaign materials in the hill areas, while Modi바카라�s face is all over the constituency바카라�in the hills, foothills and the plains.

Banerjee바카라�s choice, Gopal Lama, a former bureaucrat, is contesting on a TMC ticket. The BJP has re-nominated the incumbent, Raju Bista.

바카라�The absence of the CM바카라�s photo in the TMC바카라�s campaign in the hill areas raises an obvious question바카라�is her candidate ashamed of using her photo?바카라� asks Mahendra P Lama, formerly a professor with the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Lama is from Darjeeling and had contested the 2009 parliamentary election as an independent candidate.

Since 2017, Anit Thapa of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and his associates have been working in coordination with the state government, braving all pro-Gorkhaland sentiments, while pro-statehood outfits like the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM) are with the BJP.

Thapa바카라�s BGPM won the 2022 Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) election and the three-tier panchayat elections, but this should not be treated as any measurement of popularity, as the GNLF and Gurung바카라�s GJM had boycotted the polls.

바카라�The BJP has let the people down. The BGPM had a chance to gain popularity by efficiently and effectively using the GTA and the panchayats. But they have got embroiled in a series of corruption charges and appear to have missed their chance,바카라� says Kalimpong-based journalist Manoj Bogati.

For several years, Darjeeling바카라�s people have voted with gusto as well as with anger. But political equations have been changing like the hill바카라�s unpredictable weather.

Top Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders Bimal Gurung and Binay Tamang parted ways in 2017바카라�with Gurung continuing to ally with the BJP and Tamang preferring the TMC. In 2021, they both campaigned for the TMC. Now, they are both backing the BJP.

Overwhelming Emotions

In tea gardens after tea gardens, workers complain of poor wages (currently Rs 250 per day) and lack of land documents. The workers have been living in these gardens for several generations, but the land is recorded in the name of the company.

Last year, the administration mooted a proposal that five decimals of land would be recorded against every worker바카라�s family. This triggered anxiety and anger, as most workers currently occupy more land than that. Facing the heat, the administration withdrew the notice but confusion prevails.

바카라�We want higher wages, we land proper land records for every inch that every family possess at present, but above all, we want Gorkhaland,바카라� says Bina Chhetri, a retired worker in Rungli Rungliot tea garden.

Mahendra P Lama says that parties ruling West Bengal have failed to introspect why Darjeeling바카라�s connections with Kolkata faded. 바카라�During the British Raj, people outside knew the names of at least two places in Bengal바카라�Calcutta and Darjeeling. Darjeeling is one of the biggest brands West Bengal inherited바카라�from tea, tourism and cinchona plantations to an ace education hub. But its wealth and potential was neglected and abused.바카라�

In 2019, the BJP바카라�s manifesto said the party was 바카라�committed to work towards finding a permanent political solution to the issues of Darjeeling Hills, Siliguri, Terai and Dooars regions.바카라� It also promised to 바카라�recognise the 11 Indian Gorkha sub-tribes as Schedule Tribes.바카라� Thapa바카라�s BGPM is campaigning by highlighting the BJP바카라�s failure in delivering on its promises.

바카라�The state government has recommended the demand for according ST status to these 11 Gorkha communities, but the Centre did nothing. If Gopal Lama wins, we will get all TMC MPs shouting in Parliament for the ST status,바카라� BGPM leader Sushil Pradhan tells tea garden workers during a door-to-door campaign.

Independent candidates such as Bandana Rai, a social activist and disgruntled BJP MLA B P Bajgain are highlighting how both the BJP and the TMC have let people down in their campaign. The Congress candidate, Munish Tamang, an academic-cum-statehood activist, is doing the same.

Local people, however, point out that they lack electoral machinery for converting sympathy into votes.

According to writer Lekhnath Chettri, author of the Nepali novel Phoolange (Fruits of the Barren Tree), the BGPM had to prove the efficiency of the GTA to keep the statehood sentiments under control. It is by rejecting the GTA as ineffective that Gurung launched his 2017 agitation.

바카라�However, the BGPM바카라�s maladministration and multiple corruption charges have made the people more skeptical about the administrative efficiency in West Bengal. Their failure has made the people want administrative separation from West Bengal all the more,바카라� says Chhetri.