Nearly 8000 people had gathered wearing traditional costumes and paraded the town from Darjeeling Railway station to Chowk Bazar to mark the tripartite GTA agreement, signed among the GJM, the West Bengal and Central governments on July 18 at Pintail Village.
Most of the government offices, educational institutions and business remained closed in Darjeeling town to usher in a new era with the signing of the pact bringing all departments barring the Home and Finance under the GTA.
Terming the agreement as the new beginning for Gorkhas, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri first read the agreement in english and then explained the essence of the pact in nepali, the lingua franca of the hills.
He said the pact was historic and that was achieved due to sheer political will of the Chief Minister.
"Ms Banerjee is like our amma (mother)," Mr Giri said and waxed eloquent about her for being sympathetic to the cause of the hill people.
He said like today, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik would celebrate the GTA pact on July 28, August one and August three respectively.
Incidentally the Darjeeling celebration today coincided with the "victory" celebration of the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata.
--UNI
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