Tirthankar Mitra
KOLKATA: As 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal are inching closer, the divisive Gorkhaland issue has been stoked by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. It has appointed former deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) Pankaj Kumar Singh as an interlocutor to decide whether the Bengal hills can be given greater autonomy.
One does not need great political insight to realise that the move is a pointer on the part of the NDA government to needle the Trinamool Congress dispensation in West Bengal. The timing of the appointment underscores the motive of the BJP-led Union government.
The scar of partition of Bengal remains till date. Senior BJP leaders from national leadership as well as local ones have time and again shouted warnings from the rooftops about a second partition of West Bengal, given the allegedly unchecked influx of migrants from across the border.
If those in the sights of the top leadership of the saffron camp infiltrate into India past gaps in barbed wire border fencing and the vigilance of Border Security Force (BSF), the inmates of the proposed Gorkhaland face no such obstacles. They are Gorkhas, citizens of India living in and around Darjeeling.
Since 2009, the BJP has been winning the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency. It can be attributed to the party’s pledge to find a permanent political solution to the region establishing Gorkhaland.
Gorkhaland stands rooted in controversial past. Time and again, it has reared it head bloodying the hills, both during the Left Front and TMC regimes.
Crores worth of property have been set on fire during agitation for a separate state to be carved out of West Bengal. Many CPI(M) activists died opposing it during the Left Front regime.
And it took the top TMC leadership. and state government were in for an unpleasant surprise when it suddenly erupted when senior officials were in Darjeeling for a round of talks.
Even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was in Darjeeling on that day. She stands witness to the fury of the Gorkhaland supporters as they set ablaze a long line of vehicles which were part of her convoy.
The promise of a separate state, however, remains unfulfilled till date. It is not quite in black and white but a tacit support for Gorkhaland has always been extended from the saffron camp.
Given the nature of saffron camp support, the BJP cannot be stated to have gone back on its word. Moreover, the unbroken string of BJP’s victories in Darjeeling cements the contention of its connect with the people of the Queen of the Hills.
Thus it cannot be dismissed as yet promise being broken in the field of electoral politics. But the BJP leadership is too keenly aware of the fallout of such a pledge on its vote bank all over the state once it is in cold print.
Even hardcore BJP supporters would shy away from it if it is in the form of concrete support to a proposed state which dismembers West Bengal. The last thing the saffron camp wants is to give handle to TMC before elections.
This is truly a delicate issue. West Bengal has borne the brunt of partition since 1947. It is particularly sensitive to territorial realignments. The statehood for the hills would certainly bring huge political blowback for the BJP from the rest of the state.
Small wonder, creation of Gorkhaland has now the status of a delayed promise. And the appointment of an interlocutor can be passed off as an assurance to its Gorkha support base.
Meanwhile, the background of the former deputy NSA, Pankaj Singh does not inspire confidence of the TMC state government. No stranger to West Bengal, within two months of his taking charge as director general of BSF, the Ministry of Home Affairs increased the jurisdiction of this border para-military force from 15 kilometres to 50 kilometres in the border district of West Bengal.
He has served as IG, CRPF in Naxal affected areas of this state. Earlier, he had served as ADG in BSF’s eastern frontier to check cow smuggling.
Known for his experience in West Bengal, he is also known never to get into a confrontational situation with the state government. He is noted for balancing complexities of policing with the political expectation of the government.
But it did not cut much ice with chief minister, Mamata Banerjee. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling for rolling back of the “unilateral decision’ to appoint an interlocutor which she said has “surprised and shocked” her.
There is no denying the fact that a way out of the impasse cannot be found keeping the TMC dispensation on the margins of any engagement. What worries the TMC supremo is her party’s inability to deepen its electoral imprint in the hills.
Banerjee must face the fact that her party is not the obvious choice in the hills. The hills have suffered from alienation and underdevelopment for years.
This has given rise to deep-seated disgruntlement which envelops the concurrent fields of economy, politics and culture. This is justified and like all such issues, must be addressed shunning populism. (IPA Service)
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