‘Want Mamata Banerjee as PM candidate in 2024’: Ex-GJM MLA, senior leader join TMC

🔴 Former Gorkha Territorial Administration chairman and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Binay Tamang and ex-GJM MLA Rohit Sharma joined the Trinamool Congress in presence of senior leaders Moloy Ghatak and Bratya Basu.

GJM leaders Binay Tamang (last from left) and Rohit Sharma (first from left) join TMC in Kolkata on Friday. (Express Photo: Partha Paul)

Former Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) chairman and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Binay Tamang and ex-GJM MLA Rohit Sharma joined the Trinamool Congress Friday in presence of senior leaders Moloy Ghatak and Bratya Basu.

Ghatak, addressing reporters in Kolkata, said the move will help shape the nature of Hill politics in Bengal for the better. “We were active in Hill politics and I believe the induction of the new leaders will help TMC become even more powerful,” he added.

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Bratya Basu, while slamming the BJP, said, “The saffron party only wants to divide people. However, their form of politics was defeated by the TMC in the state Assembly polls. We are now expanding in the Hill areas. People of Darjeeling and the nearby hills want development and only Mamata Banerjee can rescue them. Binay Tamang and Rohit Sharma are the face of the Hills.”

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After joining, Binay Tamang, who had led his faction of GJM in the Hills for many years, said he wanted to see Mamata Banerjee as the Prime Ministerial candidate in 2024.

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“I resigned from my party 164 days ago. Since then, we have been in touch with TMC leaders. We want to see Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the Prime Minister in 2024. We want to provide service to the people by joining a national party like TMC and help it fight the BJP and its allies,” Tamang added.

Speaking on the Gorkhaland issue, Tamang said, “I had worked to ensure peace and stability in the Hills in 2017 when there was a shutdown for over 100 days. Gorkhaland is a constitutional issue. The BJP, using its three MPs, is blackmailing us with that.”

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