Union Home Minister Amit Shah could not attend a scheduled election rally in Darjeeling town on Sunday but addressed the gathering through an audio recording and assured them that the Union government was seriously considering including 11 Gorkha sub-tribes in the Scheduled Tribe list.
“I want to tell my Gorkha brothers and sisters that the BJP is with you in your fight to get justice and we will ensure that you get justice. The Indian Constitution will give you justice,” said the recorded message by the Home Minister.
The public meeting at Lebong was organised in favour of BJP Darjeeling Lok Sabha candidate Raju Bista.
“Today, I wanted to come to Darjeeling. But due to bad weather, my helicopter could not land there,” Mr. Shah clarified. He said that for the BJP, the aspirations of the Gorkha community was always a priority. “The Gorkhas have made a lot of sacrifices for the country,” he added.
The Darjeeling Lok Sabha is going to polls on April 26 and the demand for the creation of a separate State of Gorkhaland has been crucial to the politics of the hills. Darjeeling has been electing BJP MPs since 2009 and with a huge margin. Mr. Bista won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by a margin of four lakh votes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a rally at Siliguri on March 9, had assured that the BJP was very close to finding a solution to the problem of the Gorkhas. “The BJP has always been sensitive to the problems and challenges of Gorkha brothers and sisters. The BJP is continuously striving to address your concerns. Now we are very close to finding a solution,” he had said.
Rajnath targets Trinamool on CAA
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, campaigning for his party candidate in Malda, asserted that no one can stop the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in West Bengal.
The BJP leader emphasised that the Act was not meant to take away anyone’s citizenship but was a law for granting Indian citizenship to people displaced from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecution.
Mr. Singh also criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the Sandeshkhali unrest where allegations of land grab and sexual assault on women have come to the fore. The BJP leader said that allegations at Sandeshkhali have shaken humanity.
