Gorkhaland back on Gurung lips

SILIGURI: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung had some explaining to do on Tuesday to assure his supporters he had not given up the demand for a Gorkhaland state. Gurung went so far as to say that election to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) would not be held unless additional areas in the Dooars and Terai were added.
What pushed Gurung on the defensive was chief minister Mamata Banerjee's assertion before him and hundreds of Gorkhas on Monday that she would not allow Bengal to be divided. This created an impression that the Morcha was satisfied with the GTA and had dropped the statehood demand.
Gurung and senior party colleagues called a public meeting at Pintail Village — the same place where the tripartite agreement was signed on Monday — to calm their supporters. During the hour-long meeting, Gurung repeatedly emphasized that the "ultimate goal" (Gorkhaland) was yet to be achieved. "I have already said I will not be a part of the administrative arrangement (GTA). I am a political leader and I will be there to take the movement forward," he said. "We don't want elections to the GTA unless new mouzas from the Terai and Dooars are included in it. We accepted the GTA only after the state government gave us an assurance that these areas would be included after verification. Otherwise, we would never have given our consent."
Sensing the tension among Adivasis in the Dooars and Terai, who have resisted the GJM's attempts to include them in the proposed Gokhaland, Gurung sought to lure them with the promise of a share in the GTA. "Not only the Gorkhas, other communities in Terai and Dooars will also be an important part of the GTA," he said. "The Terai and the Dooars have struggled and bled along with the Hills. You must not have the wrong notion that you will not be included in GTA. Now, you must make all efforts to convince the high-powered committee (that will study the demand for more areas)."
~TOI