Virtually embarrassed over the demand for Gorkhaland and the recent controversy surrounding an invite to state officials and the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha for talks, the BJP leadership in Bengal has gone on the back foot now.

While a letter the Union Home Ministry earlier issued for the talks to be held tomorrow said discussions would be held on “issues related to gorkhaland,” the ministry issued a “corrigendum” yesterday that said that the talks would be held on “issues related to Gorkhaland Tereritorial Administration” (GTA).

Notably, the Home Ministry had issued a similar letter for tripartite talks on GTA much earlier too, while it was postponed following pressure from the Morcha (Bimal Gurung camp) and criticism from opposition parties in the Hills.

While several parties and groups in the Hills expressed surprise and anger at the way the agenda for the Delhi meeting was changed overnight, a section of BJP leaders in the region too said they were taken aback by the “flaws in the official letter” and the role of administrative officials in the Union Home Ministry, which is under Amit Shah.

While Trinamul Congress leader and state tourism minister Gautam Deb criticised and blamed the BJP, veteran CPIM leader Asok Bhattacharya, the former urban development minister, raised questions on the significance of the Delhi talks without other stakeholders. Also, a group of Bengali youths under the banner of Bangla Paksha staged a demonstration in Siliguri today against the Gorkhaland issue and burned both Home Minister Amit Shah and Darjeeling MP Raju Bista in effigy. Yet another political group, Aamra Bangali, is also preparing to launch protests.

Group raises ‘Joy Bangla’ slogans

Members of Bangla Paksha, mostly associated with the Trinamul Congress, today raised several slogans, especially ‘Joy Bangla,’ and protested the letter that called for a meeting to discuss ‘Gorkhaland.’

“Darjeeling MP Raju Bista should stay off. Bista has hatched a plan to divide Bengal. BJP state secretary Dilip Ghosh should make his stand clear. We will prevent them from forming Greater Nepal and Gorkhaland in Bengal,” District secretary of Bangla Paksha, Rajaditya Sarkar, said.

BJP questions it

On the other hand, Siliguri district BJP general secretary Anandamay Barman said Dilip Ghosh’s stand on the matter is very much clear. “The question is why the slogan Joy Bangla, which originated during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Is there any connection with those groups, who want to create a greater Islamic Bangladesh, comprising West Bengal, behind today’s agitation here?” he said.

Expectations from Bista

A political observer in the region said a tripartite meeting cannot be held with the BJP in the Centre and Trinamul Congress in the state.

“The Hill people are now expecting Darjeeling MP Raju Bista to clear his stand on this,” the observer said.

On the other hand, Mr Bista, who recently raised the issue in Parliament, did not comment on the latest developments, even as he had commented on the first letter that the Home Ministry issued about discussing “issues related to Gorkhaland.”

Reliable sources said Mr Bista is under immense pressure from the Morcha’s Gurung camp, as both Mr Gurung and Roshan Giri, his deputy, and their associates are out of Darjeeling Hills ever since the 2017 agitation in the Hills for the statehood demand.

“They are in position to return to the Hills freely without support from their former ally Trinamul Congress and its Chief Mamata Banerjee,” a source said.

Reliable sources also said that Bimal Gurung and his party leaders “will be doomed” if they do not make a return to the Hills ahead of the Assembly elections. “Their existence will be gone and other political parties like the GNLF will finally keep control of the entire Hills, as its leader Neeraj Zimba was elected the MLA from Darjeeling on a BJP ticket,” one observer said. It may be mentioned here that the phrase, ‘Permanent Political Solution’ (PPS) for the Hills was mentioned in the BJP’s manifesto and conceived by the GNLF.

Gurung in wait ‘n’watch mode?

Sources also said that the Gurung camp of the Morcha will wait for a few months and may finally go with Miss Banerjee for their survival towards the beginning of 2021. “This may happen even as the Hill people know that the Trinamul Congress will stand against Gorkhaland to maintain Bengali sentiments and to retain power in West Bengal,” they said.

‘BJP shuold not plead for Gorkhaland’

The BJP leadership in Bengal also believes that the party should not plead for Gorkhaland. “It should not plead for Gorkhaland just for three seats in the Hills, when the party’s prospects are better in other parts of the state when it comes to dislodging the Miss Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress government,” a party leader said.

According to political observers, the CPIM had blamed Miss Banerjee for alleged ‘division of Bengal’ as she took Mr Gurung into confidence in 2011 before the Assembly elections, but they added that people still brought her to power then.