By IANS,
Siliguri (West Bengal) : The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), fighting for a separate Gorkhaland state in northern West Bengal, has decided to support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Darjeeling seat and Jaswant Singh is likely to be the BJP candidate, according to a top GJM leader.
The decision was arrived at following a meeting between the GJM top brass, including its president Bimal Gurung and secretary Roshan Seth and BJP’s senior leader L.K. Advani in Delhi Thursday, GJM press and publicity secretary Benoy Tamang said.
“The BJP has told us that it is in favour of smaller states and its manifesto will reflect this stand. We think this is positive for us and our Gorkhaland demand,” Tamang said.
“The BJP has agreed to our request that Jaswant Singh be made the candidate from Darjeeling,” Tamang said.
The GJM is leading the movement for Gorkhaland, which it says should be carved out of Darjeeling district and parts of neighbouring Jalpaiguri district.