Controversy Erupts Over Trinamul Congress-BGPM Candidate's Development Statement for Darjeeling Lok Sabha Seat

Gopal Lama, the Trinamul Congress-Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha alliance's nominee for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, appears to have given his campaign a false start when he said that if development is completed, there would be no "issues left."

In the Darjeeling hills, where identity politics predominate, Lama's remarks on arriving in Siliguri, which is also a part of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, on Tuesday, stirred controversy.

On social media, Lama's claim that he has no problems is making the rounds.

We don't have any such problems; instead, the focus is on peace and growth. Large-scale development work is being done by the government, and if we continue with development, there won't be any problems, according to Lama.

Statehood, identity, language preservation, and tribal status have been hot topics in Darjeeling hill politics for years. The BGPM, Lama's party, also discusses "putting in place (administrative) systems," development, and "practical politics."

On Thursday, Gopal Pariyar, the leader of the Hamro Party and a Darjeeling municipality councillor, stated that Lama's remarks demonstrated the obvious intention of Trinamul and BGPM to demolish the "Gorkhaland issue" through development negotiations.

The statement made by Gopal Lama surprises us. Through discussions of development, he is attempting to destroy our problem and our goals. It is obvious that Trinamul and the BGPM had a "hidden agenda" to "decimate" the "Gorkhaland issue through development talks," thus those who favor Gorkhaland should not vote for him, according to Pariyar.

However, Lama explained that he had just emphasized that the Gorkhaland issue shouldn't be seen as a political "begging bowl."

"I just mean to say that while Gorkhaland is an issue of Gorkhas spread throughout India, Gorkhaland shouldn't be made a begging bowl during an election campaign," other parties only appear to grasp Gorkhaland when I talk about mudda (issue). Gorkhaland is not merely an election issue; it is janta's mudda (people's issue), Lama stated to The Telegraph on Thursday.

According to observers, Lama's statement will likely be used by the opposition camps to discredit the Trinamul candidate during the Lok Sabha election campaign in the area.

An observer stated, "In any case, Trinamul is against creating the Gorkhaland state."

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