Act on twin promises: Hill BJP plea to PM Narendra Modi and party president Nadda

The leaders of the BJP mandals in Darjeeling have written to J.P. Nadda, the president of the party, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express their uneasiness about meeting with the locals due to the party's inability to fulfill its pledges even after assuming power for a second term, which has left them uneasy.

The letter, which was signed by the president or secretary of each of the 26 mandals from the Darjeeling hills, Kalimpong, and Terai, stated, "...with humble submission we would like to draw your kind attention towards your sincere commitment to the Gorkhas regarding permanent political solution and granting Schedule Tribe status for eleven Gorkha communities during the Lok Sabha election 2019."

For the past fifteen years, Darjeeling has been selecting BJP Members of Parliament. The first three were Jaswant Singh in 2009, S.S. Ahluwalia in 2014, and Raju Bista in 2019.

The BJP has pledged to provide 11 Gorkha clans tribal status and to find a long-term political solution in its 2019 election manifesto. The majority of people in the hills view the BJP's proposed permanent political solution—which it hasn't explicitly defined—as creating a new state called Gorkhaland.

Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunuwar, Thami, Yakka (Dewan), and Dhimal are the 11 communities vying for ST status.

BJP leaders and the party's partners were in a difficult situation as a result of the failure to keep the electoral pledges.

As Mandals of the esteemed Bharatiya Janata Party, we are frequently questioned by the public about our catchphrase, 'Gorkha's Dream My Dream.'" The letter to the prime minister said, "Our great hope is still with you, Adarniya Pradhan Mantri Ji. Please kindly solve our long-pending aspirations before the end of the year 2023."

"The dream of the Gorkhas is my dream," Modi had declared in Siliguri during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign.

Ever since, the opposition parties have not stopped questioning if the "dream" has come true. In order to push for the ST classification, Sikkim Chief Minister P.S. Golay (Tamang), whose Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) is an ally of the BJP, also intends to send a delegation to Delhi.

GTA Sabha member Binay Tamang, who just joined the Congress, stated that no laws addressing the issues raised by the Gorkhas were scheduled for the winter session of Parliament.

December 4 is when the winter session will begin, and it will end on December 22.

According to the information that is currently available, 18 bills—seven of which are new—will be listed during the winter session. Nevertheless, Tamang pointed out that the Congress had shown more consideration for the Gorkhas and that none of the eighteen laws addressed their dual problems.

In addition to recognizing Nepali in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, the Congress government at the Centre established the autonomous entities in the hills, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in 2011 and the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 1988.

The Darjeeling MP for the BJP, Bista, expressed faith in the Centre. "I have no doubt that one of the two problems would be settled before the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. Furthermore, additional bills have occasionally been introduced in Parliament at the eleventh hour, according to Bista.