Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung was admitted to a private hospital in Sikkim on Monday after his health deteriorated while staging a hunger strike opposing the polls to Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
Initially, Mr. Gurung was admitted to State-run Darjeeling Sadar Hospital on Sunday. As his health deteriorated further, he was shifted to the private hospital.
The GJM president was on a hunger strike for 103 hours, starting from Wednesday.
Not only the GJM, but the BJP leadership have decided to boycott the elections to GTA. Darjeeling BJP MP Raju Bista has called the GTA “ anti- Gorkha”.
The polls to the regional autonomous body, to which both the GTA and BJP are opposed to, have brought the two former allies closer to each other. The State government has issued a notification on May 27, announcing that polls to 45 seats to the GTA will be held on June 26.
While there are speculations about what will be the next move of the GJM president, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that she will be visiting north Bengal in first week of June. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has also started fielding candidates. The party has fielded former GJM leader Binay Tamang as its candidate.
