We have always been sympathetic to concerns of the Gorkhas when it comes to protecting their identity. The party has never backed a separate Gorkhaland," while speaking to reporters at the party headquarters here.In the 2004 election manifesto when then party MP Jaswant Singh won the Darjeeling seat with Gorkha support, BJP had nuanced its stand saying the party will espouse the Gorkhaland cause, stopped short of declaring that it will support a separate state. With BJP looking at the party's growth in West Bengal, which has 42 parliamentary constituencies including Darjeeling, supporting Gorkhaland would make the party unpopular in the rest of state as majority of the people would see it as a ploy to split the state. At present BJP has just two Lok Sabha seats in the state... Darjeeling and Asansol.BJP sources also said that a separate state for Gorkhaland is not feasible as it is a border area with China and hence security is a major issue in the region. This, according to sources, is the view of the Union home ministry, which has already looked into the issue.

Source: Times of India June 27, 2017 15:44 UTC