JALPAIGURI: Union minister S S Ahluwalia said that he would protect the absconding Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung and not allow any agency to "eliminate" him.
"I always stand by Gurung and in the future I'll protect him," the Darjeeling MP told reporters at Matigara, near the hills, yesterday.
"I'll not allow any agency to eliminate Gurung. For this if anybody thinks that I am giving shelter to Gurung, then be it," Ahluwalia said.
He said there was a tendency among a section of the people to blame the BJP for any unrest in the Darjeeling hills. "And for that reason, I did not visit the hills during the recent unrest," he said.
The Union minister of state for drinking water and sanitation said that he favoured a tripartite talk to solve the Darjeeling problem.
Darjeeling witnessed widespread violence from early June this year amid 104 days of bandh till GJM leader Binay Tamang distanced himself and took charge of the Board of Administrators of the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) in September.