The north Bengal BJP leadership is grappling with discontent articulated by different communities in the hills and its trade union leaders in the plains ahead of the parliamentary elections.
In north Bengal, identity politics plays a major role in the polls. This time, 11 hill communities, which have not been granted Scheduled Tribe status, are disgruntled with the BJP which they voted thrice since 2009.
In the plains, the party is trying to tackle the dissent brewing among its tea trade union leaders who are upset with the decision to deny Alipurduar MP John Barla a ticket this time and field MLA Manoj Tigga instead.
The Gorkha Bharatiya Janjati (11) Mahasangh that represents hill communities yet to earn the ST tag had earlier urged the Narendra Modi government at the Centre to meet their demand ahead of the polls.
“For the past 10 years, we heard assurances and tall talks of BJP leaders that our demand will be met. We made it clear that something has to be done before this election. Now that the polls have been announced and the model code of conduct is in force, the Centre can’t do anything. That is why we've decided not to support BJP this time,” said Mahasangh national president Kanchan Gurung.
The 11 communities are Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunuwar, Thami, Yakka (Dewan) and Dhimal. In all, there are nine lakh voters of these communities who live in Darjeeling and Kalimpong and vote in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.
“Since 2009, these voters have played a decisive role in the BJP’s win,” said a veteran in hill politics.
Representatives of the Mahasangh said that on March 9, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Siliguri, they expected some announcement from his side.
“He didn’t say anything specific and simply asserted that his party is aware of the aspirations of the people here,” mentioned Gurung.
He pointed out that in 2014, the state passed a bill on the demand and had sent it to the Centre. In 2016, the Union tribal affairs ministry formed a committee to look into the demand.
Since then, three such committees were formed and a final report was compiled by a committee in 2019. Since then it has been lying with the office of registrar-general of India, he said.
District BJP leaders said their party was "committed to fulfilling the demands of hill communities".
"Once our new government is formed at the Centre, it will definitely work on the issues,” said a senior BJP functionary in Siliguri.
In Jalpaiguri district, representatives of Bharatiya Tea Workers’ Union held a meeting in Matiali on Sunday evening, demanding that the BJP immediately place Barla in an important party post. This time, the BJP has denied Barla the Alipurduar ticket and fielded MLA Manoj Tigga instead.
The trade union is backed by the BJP and Barla and some of his aides run it.
“It has been learnt that the party will put John Barla in an important post as he has not been given an MP ticket. We want the party to put him in the post within the next 10 days. Or else, we will make a decision that won't benefit the party,” said Rahen Minz, general secretary of the union.
In the Dooars tea gardens, spread over Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts, the union enjoys a good support base.
Bapi Goswami, the Jalpaiguri district BJP president, said they had always sincerely worked for the tea population. “As far as their demand (concerning Barla's elevation) goes, the decision would be taken by central and state leaders,” he said.
