KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday made a historic announcement that the decades-long Darjeeling issue had finally been resolved. At the end of the second day of the official talks between the state government and the Gorkhaland Janamukti Morcha (GJM), Mamata said: “Darjeeling issue is on its way to getting settled. Home Minister P Chidambaram has been informed that the Darjeeling matter has been solved. An agreement has been signed at the official-level. ” The end to this decades-long separate Gorkhaland movement might have important implications for the Telangana issue in Andhra Pradesh. Mamata’s formula for the Darjeeling issue involves a new Hill Council that would be elected democratically by the people of the region. The council would have powers to form rules but not pass laws. Mamata also hinted at a financial package. State Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh is expected to speak to the Centre and Banerjee wants to sit for a tripartite meeting ideally within a week. Though the GJM was silent on the statehood issue, merely stating that it was their long-standing demand, it appeared that they had given in to Mamata’s persuasion. Seen in the light of the recent resolution adopted by the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee demanding a second states reorganisation commission and Monday’s remarks by Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad that the Telangana issue cannot be solved easily, the Darjeeling formula might be applied in the case of Telangana too. It has been reported in these columns that the Congress high command at its forthcoming Chintan Shibir at Mt Abu may make its stand on the Telangana issue clear and that it is likely to adopt a “middle course” — offering a package including a regional council and funds for special projects or form a parliamentary panel. The “magic formula” applied to Darjeeling has turned out to be exactly the same “middle course.” >>
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