By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday said it was committed to the creation of smaller states, as it justified its support to the demand of a separate Gorkhaland state in West Bengal and Telangana in Andhra Pradesh.
Justifying the party’s alliance with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is demanding a separate state carved out of Darjeeling and nearby areas of West Bengal, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said: “Small states are growing at faster rates. The Economic Survey Appraisal has given us this data.”
BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said the party will consider sympathetically the GJM’s demand for a Gorkhaland state. The BJP has also supported a separate state for Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh.
“They (GJM and Telangana Rashtriya Samiti) are regional outfits and there are many outfits who call for smaller states. We will look at their demand sympathetically.”
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Friday accused the BJP of trying to divide West Bengal and asserted that it would make BJP’s tie-up with the pro-Gorkhaland GJM a poll issue.
The CPI-M’s reaction came in the wake of the GJM joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and extending support to Jaswant Singh’s candidature from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. The BJP manifesto has also promised to consider the demand for a Gorkhaland state.