NEW DELHI: BJP takes state cry to House
Posted by barunroy on July 4, 2009
FROM THE TELEGRAPH
BY NISHIT DHOLABHAI
New Delhi, July 3: The BJP today raised the subject of Gorkhaland in Parliament in the garb of acute drinking water problem in the Darjeeling hills.
Raising the issue of water scarcity during the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, BJP member Rajiv Pratap Rudy urged the government to look into the aspects of the demand for a new state or Gorkhaland.
Rudy was apparently doing what Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh is expected to do in the Lower House during the budget session.
The BJP threw up a small surprise for itself in an overall poor election result when it won the Darjeeling seat by a thumping margin after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha issued a fiat in the hills that all should vote for Singh’s party.
Rudy started by criticising the Bengal government for going slow on the water supply projects in the hills. The Planning Commission had sanctioned a scheme for lifting water from the Balason river to meet potable water requirement of Darjeeling town. The project conceived in 1995 has not seen the light of the day.
“This speaks aloud about the development that has taken place in north Bengal so much so that this has resulted in implications of raising a separate state for which the people of the Darjeeling hills have been struggling. They have been agitating for more than three decades now,” he said.
“The neglect of the Queen of Hills with its poor infrastructure… coupled with growing discontent in the Dooars region and the plains… is a matter of concern,” Rudy told the Upper House.
Expressing fears that the Darjeeling hills were growing into a “slum”, Rudy alleged a “consistent neglect of the entire north Bengal”.
Rudy said since the area is in the chicken’s neck, the slim corridor that connects the rest of the country with the Northeast, it commands all the more attention. “The state borders three countries and it (north Bengal) is a gateway to Bhutan…Unrest in that region has created a dangerous situation,” said Rudy. The BJP leader iterated that the Gorkhaland demand needed to be looked into by the Centre. “The bottom line for us is to wait and watch and keep watching,” said an official of the home ministry that is facilitating the tripartite talks among the Centre, the state and the Morcha, which is spearheading the statehood movement. Morcha leaders led by the Darjeeling MP had recently called on Union home minister P. Chidambaram.
Bishal Kirati Rai said
Good going….
Sanity said
Rajiv Pratap Rudy – the next MP from Darjeeling after Jaswant?
As long as the Gorkhaland demand is met, people will not mind voting for the BJP.
JTM said
Slow and steady wins the race. People should not get impatient. Darj did the right thing by supporting BJP where this subject is concerned. With Dawa Narbula, things would have remained status quo…benefits would have been awarded but the demand for statehood would have been slowly diluted.
new generation said
good. but we shd not depend upon politicians like MPs or MLAs or BJP leaders or GJM leaders…. It is the ppl who can make the issue a debatable one at national level. until and unles the subject is not debated at national level it is not possible for any MP to draw the attention of central govt. towards the demand of land. hence, the ppl shd do their work like organising seminars, debate, interaction, dharna, writing different publications in hindi, english and other prominent languages (of the MPs) to support the voice in the parliament. for this purpose it is not mandatory to engage in political activity. it cld b done by social/voluntary organisations also. after all they r also concerned with the demand of land. the demand being made by political outfit is still not transparent in darjeeling hills. some confusions r there regarding nature of the movement. the local ppl r not very clear whether the movement of land is still a movement or has turned into a political game to realise dream of making money. the gjm leadership shd make the movement and politics different otherwise the innocent ppl cld start to keep distance with the political party (gjm) for obvious reasons.
layman said
I am thanksful to that man Rudy, he should be remembered forever for this historical event. He is a true Indian, not loke some people in Bengal who thinks they belong to whole India and Gorkhas have no place whatsoever. They are all GAY. Doesnt make sense, why gay buy I feel they dont have balls to support somebody who is different than their own kinds.
layman said
thankful
maakoora said
QUOTE = “The bottom line for us is to wait and watch and keep watching,” said an official of the home ministry that is facilitating the tripartite talks among the Centre, the state and the Morcha, which is spearheading the statehood movement. = UNQUOTE
What does he mean by “… and keep watching”.
This is exactly the mindset of the concerned officials that the Morcha must be able to change. After all, the Congress has not rejected the matter outright in its election manifesto 2009. It reads as follows :-
WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE SENSITIVE TO REGIONAL ASPIRATIONS
The Indian National Congress is aware that in some large states the persistence of intra-regional imbalances in development has given rise to the demand for separate states. While it has introduced several programmes to redress these disparities, recognising the legitimacy of these concerns and acknowledging that the solution may vary from one state to another, the Indian National Congress will find pragmatic solutions to deal with these demands.
JTM said
Amongst the Gorkha Indians homesteads..three places are under BJP..Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Darjeeling. BJP is already into looking into their faults and hopefully in the future will emerge more balanced. I have always stated that GL cannot be achieved by Darjeeling and Gorkhas alone. A few good people and a national party backing is what we need. And Darj should also cut down on disdain towards the army. We need the goodwill of the army also indirectly, because that is where our reputation and national presence has grown from in India.
JTM said
Keep watching means to watch for the right opportunity and grab it when it comes. Nothing canve preordained including our own lives.
Rajneesh said
Well done BJP, keep it up.
I Love My India said
Rudy, first go and developed your own State Bihar. Darjeeling is second richest dist of W.B. Darjeeling is getting three times more then her Income. Will you feed so called GL on your own pocket money? Your party lost election due to your support to some GJMM type party. By supporting GJMM, you people actulay support non paying taxes, non paying telephone bills, attacking adivasis, instigating communal violane in North Bengal, disrespect to deadbodies etc. Yeasterday your lone M.L.A. of megalaya left your party because of your communal agenda. You will be completely wipe out in next M.P.if, you still with GJMM like party. Mr Rudy , Give us a simpel answer, what is the source of money for GJMM?
JTM said
I can put you across to a baba who can satisfy your answers by conjuring a mini TV screen on yr thunbail.
MMM said
Common Mr Rudy… if you or your party wanna work for the development for the region you cannot put Nepalis against Bengalis, but what you can do is let all kinds of elections happen in Darjeeling (GJM tactfully resisting any elections in Darjeeling), participate in these elections, win elections and when you are in power just work for the progress of the region, so instead of pointing fingers be a participant in the democratic process. Man thats what democracy means, so be democratic!
By playing divisive politics you ain’t gonna achieve anything.
I would like to ask you, what was the achievement of BJP in the panchayati & municipal elections in the Siliguri Subdivision of Darjeeling District where BJP won in MP elections with great margin? Why did the people who voted for BJP in MP election in the area were made to vote for Congress in these election?
Sanity said
#11.
I thought your love was unconditional but sadly its appears not to be. This conditional love is what is the bane of India today. Had the love of Indians been unconditional all parts of India would have developed at the same pace and there would have been no revolution or uprising at every various nook and corner of the country.
Sanity said
#14.
Correction: Please ignore the “various” before “nook” in the last sentence.
I Love My India said
There is no love for non payers of taxes, non payers of telephone bills, non paying electriciey bills, attacking adivasis, disrespect deadbodies, communal istigation etc. They ar anti indian and parasites. Baba is required to those , who have no confidence on self.
Sanity said
#16.
You look like a Chinese trying to learn English by rote.
MMM said
My rudy you should also tell the public what NDA has one for Darjeeling when it was in power?