Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung on Sunday reiterated his support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party Trinamool Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections in April-May next year, PTI reported.

Speaking at a public rally at Birpara in the Dooars foothills area in Alipurduar district on Sunday, he criticised the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre, for not making efforts for a permanent solution to the statehood demand of the Gorkhas. “Please answer Modi ji, what did you do for a permanent solution to our demand,” he asked. “Your party only gave promises but never fulfilled those.”

He said, in contrast, Banerjee fulfilled her promises to the Gorkha community. “We have seen that Didi [Mamata Banerjee] fulfils and implements what she promises,” Gurung said, according to PTI. “She never gives empty promises. She has done a lot for the hills within her ability. Hence, we have decided to vote for Didi in the upcoming Assembly polls.”

Meanwhile, the rival faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, led by Binoy Tamang, cautioned Banerjee of betrayal from Gurung, reported the Hindustan Times. “We have full faith in the chief minister but I request the state government not to keep two khukris [traditional Gorkha knife] in one sheath,” the faction’s Anit Thapa said. “There can be bloodshed.”

Thapa is the government-appointed chairman of the board of administrators of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, regional autonomous body formed as a result of the state, Centre and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha tripartite agreement in 2011.

Tamang and Thapa held a rally on Sunday at Sukna town of Darjeeling district on Sunday. Speaking at the rally, Tamang also demanded bipartite talk between the state government and the faction he leads, according to the Hindustan Times. “We were the ones who restored peace in Darjeeling in 2017,” Tamang said. “Those who doused the fire can also light it.”

In October this year, Gurung resurfaced in Kolkata, after absconding for three years since 2017 with several cases pending against him. The Tamag faction has stayed opposed to his return to the hills, and is apprehensive about a possible alliance between Trinamool Congress and Gurung, ahead of the state polls.

Banerjee’s party has not said anything in public on this matter till now. On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has raised questions about the police protection provided to Gurung.