Darjeeling CPI-M candidate faces GJM protests

July 23rd, 2009 SILIGURI - The disruption of popular toy train services in Darjeeling disappointed the tourists as the rail track was damaged by the landslides in the region. The tourists looking forward for a joy ride along Darjeeling Himalayan Railways had to change their plans.

May 26th, 2009 SILIGURI - At least 10 people were killed and 23 injured following landslides Tuesday in West Bengal's hill district Darjeeling, police said. "At least 10 people died and 23 were injured in landslides across Darjeeling district.

May 26th, 2009 SILIGURI - At least 22 people were killed and several injured in landslides - triggered by Cyclone Aila - in West Bengal's hill district of Darjeeling Tuesday, police said. "At least 22 people died and 10 were injured in landslides across Darjeeling district.

May 15th, 2009 SILIGURI - Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Bachao Committee, which is opposing the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland to be carved out of West Bengal, has called for one-day strike in Siliguri. Few vehicles plied on the roads and shops were closed.

April 30th, 2009 DARJEELING - Around 50 percent polling was reported Thursday in the tourist hub of Darjeeling in northern Bengal amid the hill town's signature weather complete with fog, wind and occasional showers. Braving the sudden chill that crept in with the rains after a prolonged spell of sunny weather, voters queued up in front of booths from well before 7 a.m.

April 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury Saturday asked the Election Commission to ensure the presence of central paramilitary forces in the Darjeeling hills after polling day to ensure the safety of voters in the area. Yechury, who is just back from Darjeeling after addressing election rallies, said in his complaint: 'The separatist Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) is in public threatening the people not to vote for the CPI-M candidate.

April 21st, 2009 DARJEELING - Formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland will not solve problems faced by people in West Bengal's Darjeeling hills, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said here Monday. Addressing the maiden election meeting organised by the CPI-M in the hills of north Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls April 30, Yechury said tripartite talks involving the state and central governments and the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) were the only way to find a solution to the Gorkhaland crisis.

April 14th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday called the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 'highly opportunistic' for fielding veteran leader Jaswant Singh from West Bengal's Darjeeling with the support of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM). 'The BJP has taken a very highly opportunistic and unprincipled decision to field Jaswant Singh from Darjeeling hills with GJM support.

April 12th, 2009 SILIGURI - The Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) will stay away from the coming Lok Sabha polls and not support any candidate for the Darjeeling seat, party chief Subash Ghising announced here Sunday. Addressing a rally of several thousand people here, Ghising demanded Scheduled Tribes status for hill groups like Rais, Gurungs, Magars and Newars.

April 10th, 2009 DARJEELING - Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL), an outfit run by the Gorkha community in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, Friday said it will not support Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former union minister Jaswant Singh in the Lok Sabha election. Singh is fighting the April-May election from Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency with the support of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) - now the principal political party in the hills.

April 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Holding out the promise of a separate state of Gorkhaland, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday got another ally in the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is set to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and support BJP candidate Jaswant Singh for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal. Talking to reporters after the release of the party's manifesto here, BJP president Rajnath Singh said the BJP had always stood for smaller states, and had during the NDA rule created Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

April 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh will contest from Darjeeling in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The announcement was made by party president Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.

April 2nd, 2009 SILIGURI - The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), fighting for a separate Gorkhaland state in northern West Bengal, has decided to support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Darjeeling seat and Jaswant Singh is likely to be the BJP candidate, according to a top GJM leader. The decision was arrived at following a meeting between the GJM top brass, including its president Bimal Gurung and secretary Roshan Seth and BJP's senior leader L.K.

March 12th, 2009 KOLKOTA - The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), on Wednesday, said that it was not contesting from West Bengal's Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat and was holding talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party to support its party candidates there. GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri said, "We have decided not to field candidate for the Lok Sabha seat in Darjeeling, but will support a party which will take up the cause of Gorkhaland which is a 100-year-old demand and related to our identity," Giri said.

February 26th, 2009 SILIGURI - The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) Wednesday said that support for a separate Gorkhaland state was a pre-condition for backing any candidate for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, where it wields considerable clout. The party is yet to decide whether it will support the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) spearheaded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), GJM press and publicity secretary Benoy Tamang told reporters here.