Kolkata: Reportedly upset over the re-nomination of Raju Bista, the sitting BJP Lok Sabha member from Darjeeling in North Bengal, the BJP legislator from Kurseong, Bishnu Prasad Sharma, filed his nomination as an Independent candidate from the same seat on Saturday.
According to Sharma, he had been cautioning the BJP leadership of contesting as an Independent candidate if the party did not nominate a “son of the hills” from Darjeeling.
Now that the BJP leadership has announced the re-nomination of Bista, who doesn’t have his roots in the hills, the time has come for him to file his nomination as an Independent candidate, Sharma said.
“I had never been against the party (BJP). I am still not against the party. But I am against the candidate whom the party has re-nominated. My only demand is a separate Gorkhaland state. The party has spoken about a permanent political solution for the hills, which is not possible without a separate Gorkhaland state,” Sharma said after filing his nomination papers on Saturday.
Reacting to the development, Bista said the rebel leader should have first resigned from his post as a BJP MlA and then filed his nomination as an Independent candidate.
“In a democratic setup, everyone has the right to contest elections. I wish him (Sharma) the best of luck. But he should have first resigned as the legislator and then filed his nomination. It is not clear how eager he is to become a member of the Parliament if he clings on to his MLA’s chair,” Bista said.
–IANS
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