West Bengal elections 2021 | Cooch Behar killings turning point, BJP to be routed from north Bengal: Bimal Gurung

Mr. Gurung, in an interview with PTI, reaffirmed that "Statehood is a dream nurtured by every Gorkha" living in the hills

Asserting that Saturdays firing by the CISF in Cooch Behar, which claimed four lives, would prove to be a "turning point" in Bengal polls, Bimal Gurung, the chief of one of the two GJM factions, claimed that the BJP would face the wrath of voters in the remaining four phases of polling in the northern part of the State. Mr. Gurung, in an interview with PTI, reaffirmed that "Statehood is a dream nurtured by every Gorkha" living in the hills, while also noting that the TMC's pitch for a "permanent political solution" and the overall development of Darjeeling and its adjoining areas sounds "very encouraging". Lashing out at the BJP for "deceiving the Gorkha jaati for 12 years with fake promises", Mr. Gurung, who deserted the NDA and joined hands with the TMC in October last year, said he will teach the saffron camp a "lesson for life", with Mamata Banerjee by his side.