GJM leaders meet Advani, seek BJP's support

In an effort to gain support for a separate Gorkhaland, leaders of Gorkha Janmmukti Morcha (GJM) on Tuesday met senior BJP leader L K Advani in New Delhi to seek the party's support for the demand.

"We have sought his party's support for the Gorkhaland. He assured us that the BJP has always been in support of smaller states and asked us to furnish him with the historical proofs which support the demand," Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said.

Giri said Advani, who is also the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA, was also apprised of the urgent need to convene tripartite talks involving Centre, West Bengal government and the GJM.

The delegation which comprised Fubi Rai, Pradeep Pradhan and H B Chhetri apart from Giri was also accompanied by BJP leaders S S Ahluwalia and Arunachal MP Tapir Gaon.

Asked if the BJP was planning to make forays into the West Bengal assembly by furthering the Gorkhaland cause, Ahluwalia said, "It is too much to read politics out of a statehood movement. Although our party is a part of the all-party forum supporting the agitation."

The GJM has been spearheading agitation in northern part of West Bengal demanding a separate state covering Darjeeling district and contiguous areas of Dooars.