Rebel BJP Kurseong MLABP Sharma joins Trinamool

Darjeeling: BJP's Kurseong MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma, a vocal critic of the saffron party for years while staying within its fold, on Thursday joined Trinamool in the presence of senior state ministers Shashi Panja and Bratya Basu.Sharma said he waited for the last Bengal assembly session to end before switching. "When the (last) assembly session ended, I said I was a free bird. I didn't disrespect the mandate of the people. Some will criticise my decision. I don't care much about such criticism," he said.
Even as a BJP member, he had accused the party of keeping the Gorkha community "in the dark" and engaging in "jumla politics".Sharma was elected Kurseong BJP MLA in May 2021. He contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against BJP's Darjeeling MP Raju Bista as an independent candidate to protest BJP overlooking a bhumiputra (son of soil), but lost, securing only 3,191 votes.At Trinamool Bhawan on Thursday, Sharma accused BJP of misleading the Gorkha community with terms like PPS (permanent political solution), which, he alleged, diluted the long-standing demand for Gorkhaland."For 17 years, Gorkhas have been kept in the dark. BJP is showing Gorkhas a torch and calling it the sun. What can a torchlight provide? They will not give anything substantial to the Gorkha community — not even a single thread," he said.Sharma also questioned the Centre's decision to send an interlocutor to the Hills ahead of polls. Referring to IPS officer Pankaj Kumar, Sharma alleged there was no official appointment letter from the Centre.He said he opposed the SIR since the beginning, alleging it was being conducted in haste to "destabilise the govt and force it to kneel". Panja said: "He is an important Gorkha neta, a farmer, and someone deeply connected to the grassroots of north Bengal."BJP's Siliguri MLA and chief whip Shankar Ghosh said: "I don't think it will have any impact. He started to think he was beyond the party."