After 3 years, Bimal Gurung surfaces in Kolkata, snaps BJP ties; to ally with TMC

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Bimal Gurung, in hiding for three years since the violent statehood agitation of 2017, resurfaced dramatically in Kolkata on Wednesday to announce that his severance of ties with the BJP and support for “Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister of Bengal” in next year’s assembly election. Gurung, however, added that he was not budging from the Gorkhaland statehood demand and blamed PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah for failing to keep their promises.