Bimal Gurung: News

Bimal Gurung is a politician and founder of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). He has been fighting for the formation of a new state, Gorkhaland, within the Indian Union. For decades, pro-Gorkhaland activists have been demanding greater autonomy for the hilly regions of West Bengal. To this end, autonomous bodies like the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) and Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) were set up. In 1986, as a member of the Gorkha Volunteers’ Cell, Gurung joined the armed struggle for Gorkhaland under the aegis of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). In 2007, he revolted against the GNLF chief and former Chairman of the DGHC, Subhash Ghisingh, and launched the GJM. Soon, Gurung emerged as the most prominent leader of the movement. After the victory of the Trinamool Congress in the 2011 West Bengal Assembly elections, Gurung entered into an agreement with the Mamata Banerjee government, setting up the GTA for the governance of hills. Gurung became the GTA chief executive and ran the hill administration till 2017 when his relations with the state government went sour. Fearing arrest, Gurung went into hiding for three years and reappeared in late 2020.