DARJEELING,: On
the final day of nominations, Munish Tamang, the Congress candidate for the
Darjeeling Lok Sabha polls, filed his candidacy at the district magistrate's
office here.
Preceding his formal nomination, a
public meeting was held at P. Kothi, the headquarters of their alliance partner,
Hamro Party. The meeting was also attended by leaders from CPIM, an alliance of
INDIA bloc.
A rally then escorted Tamang till the
district magistrate’s office.
“Today marks a pivotal moment for
Darjeeling and its environs as the wind of change will start and you will see
on June 4, when the results are out, the rejection of atrocities and falsehoods
perpetuated by certain parties. This is just the beginning,” said Tamang.
Tamang outlined key priorities including
longstanding regional issues and specific concerns such as tea garden matters including
parja patta and unemployment.
“Being a national party, we will
recognize the sentiment of Gorkhaland and will work on solutions. After the
Congress party wins and the UPA government is formed, we will address this
issue. It was the Congress party in the past that brought the Bill for 6th
Schedule and we will restart from there and work towards a new beginning and a
solution. We will revisit the Bill,” said Tamang.
Responding to questions about West
Bengal Pradesh Congress general secretary Binoy Tamang going against his
candidature, he said, “It was my party’s decision to make me the candidate. I
have no personal competition against him and I hope that he will also support
me and work for the issue of the Gorkhas.”
Congress district president Shankar
Malakar said the presence of the Congress in the Hills has bolstered following
the alliance with Hamro Party under the INDIA bloc.
Meanwhile, Hamro Party president Ajoy
Edwards, addressing a gathering at their party office, criticized recent
remarks by BJP leaders targeting Sikkim Chief Minister. He said, “The BJP
Sikkim in-charge recently asked the ‘aukat’ of the Sikkim CM. We have only one
Gorkha Nepali-speaking CM which is from Sikkim and when such statements are
made, we feel bad for any Nepali from our country.”
Edwards accused Morcha leader Bimal
Gurung, GNLF leader Mann Ghisingh and Raju Bista of staying silent on the
matter. “They did not speak against the BJP Sikkim in-charge’s statement as
when they are friends with the BJP, they cannot speak for our community, but we
are free and we can speak against them. If we vote for such a party who speaks
against the people of our community then where does our sincerity lie,” he
added.
CPIM leader Saman Pathak said, “The Left
Front parties are totally supporting the Congress candidate and we started
campaigning the day Munish Tamang’s name was announced.”
Pathak advocated for the establishment
of a constitutionally guaranteed body in Darjeeling.
