In a big jolt to the BJP, ahead of 2021 Assembly polls, the GJM, led by fugitive Gorkha leader Bimal Gurung, quit the NDA, underscoring that the saffron party has "failed to find a permanent solution" for the Hills - which had witnessed major unrest over demand for a separate state in 2017.
Addressing a press meet here, Gurung announced that his outfit would align with the TMC and fight against the saffron camp in the 2021 Bengal Assembly polls. The BJP, which is still recovering from the setback it had received last month when Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) pulled out of the NDA, said Gurung, who had been on the run since 2017, wanted to return to the Hills, and had no option but to toe the line of TMC boss Mamata Banerjee. Gurung said his outfit feels cheated as the NDA, despite its assurances, was yet to recognise 11Gorkha communities as Scheduled Tribes.
