Bengal s Hills Grow Tense as Pre-Poll Politics Upends Old Equations
From a demand for statehood to a reckoning of how far the region has come under Mamata Banerjee, a long look at the politics that still dominates the hills.
Posters of GJK (2) faction (as in this photo) are seen in much greater numbers than those of GJM (1). Photo: Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Aiyo, BJP
aiyo,” shouted a band of party supporters, dancing to the tune of traditional Tamang community music, as they waited for Union home minister Amit Shah in Kalimpong. The phrase, which means ‘here comes BJP’, along with the âJai Gorkhaâ, ‘Narendra Modi zindabad,’ and âJai Shree Ramâ chants kept interrupting the music from time to time.