40 Years Ago, Rajiv Gandhi said no to Gorkhaland

The Prime Minister said the examination of the speeches, letters, cassettes available on the Gorkha National Liberation Front-led movement revealed that it was not aimed at achieving statehood. (Archive)

2 min readSep 19, 2026 06:40 AM IST First published on: Sep 19, 2026 at 06:40 AM IST

The Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, said there was no question of creating a separate Gorkhaland by dividing West Bengal. “No further amendment of the Constitution will be allowed for division of states,” he declared. Addressing a crowded press conference, the Prime Minister said the Union home and law ministries’ examination of the speeches, letters, cassettes available on the Gorkha National Liberation Front led movement in Darjeeling revealed that it was not aimed at achieving statehood. “Their major demand is that citizens of Nepal crossing over to India should be accepted as Indian citizens.”

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