FRIENDS IN NEED
On October 21, Bimal Gurung, leader of a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) faction and a fugitive from the law in West Bengal, made his first public appearance in three years. Despite the many charges filed against him—including under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act)—he held a press conference in Kolkata that day, announcing that he was ending his alliance with the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and that he would help the TMC’s (Trinamool Congress’) Mamata Banerjee become “chief minister for the third time in 2021”. He added that the BJP “has done nothing about our demand for a [separate] Gorkhaland”, and that “Mamata Banerjee does what she says, so
