Seal deal in Delhi: Morcha - Local venue may rob agreement of grandeur, say insiders

Darjeeling, July 14/VIVEK CHHETRI : The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha wants the “memorandum of agreement” on the new administrative authority for the hills to be signed in Delhi and not in Darjeeling as suggested earlier by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Although some Morcha leaders said the reason for wanting to shift the venue was to spare the dignitaries the inconvenience of visiting a landslide-prone zone in monsoon, party insiders were of the opinion that signing the deal in the capital could give the agreement a “grand stature”.

“We want the MOA to be signed in Delhi and not in Darjeeling,” a Morcha source told The Telegraph. Also, the Morcha wants the deal to set up the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to be called a “memorandum of agreement” and not “memorandum of settlement”. The party believes that the MOS would look like as if it is a final solution.

The source, however, added that the party had not received any communication either from the state or the Centre on the venue and date of signing the agreement. “It is the Centre’s prerogative to finalise the date and venue but we want it to be signed in Delhi. The date will be finalised on the home ministry convenience.” Earlier, Mamata was expected to visit the hills on July 18, when the tripartite agreement on the new set-up was supposed to be signed. Keeping the date in mind, many anti-Morcha outfits have called strikes during the period. The Trinamul Congress said it would oppose the strike tooth and nail. ( )

Asked about the date of visit to the hills, Mamata said at Writers’ Buildings today: “I will let you know when it is finalised.” Union home ministry sources said a meeting that was supposed to be held in Delhi today on the Darjeeling hills had been put off because of the Mumbai blasts.

The meeting will now be held some time next week, the sources said.

Bengal chief secretary Samar Ghosh said Delhi was very much eager to sign the agreement. “There are a few points that need to be sorted out. We are in touch with the Morcha and they will be ironed out soon,” he said.

Asked whether the chief minister was scheduled to visit Darjeeling next week, Ghosh said: “No date has been fixed yet.”

The Morcha said it had not yet communicated to Delhi its wish to change the proposed venue of the tripartite meeting. “It is the state’s duty to inform the Centre,” a Morcha source said.

The source, however, could not provide any strong reasons for wanting a venue change. “There are lots of factors involved in Darjeeling. Nature’s vagaries cannot be ruled out, there could be disruption because of landslides in these rains. Looking into a lot of factors, we want the agreement to be signed in Delhi,” he added.

But a section of Morcha insiders feels that signing the deal in Darjeeling would rob the agreement of its “grandeur”. “Signing the deal in Delhi would mean it is something serious with a grand stature, an agreement that the Morcha can flaunt in the hills,” said a party member.

Given the Morcha’s latest stand and the Centre’s preoccupation with the situation in Mumbai, it is not clear if Mamata will visit Darjeeling on July 17-18. “Even if she comes, the signing might not take place,” said a party member. On July 7, the chief secretary had said Mamata wanted the agreement to be signed in Darjeeling.

Senior district officials said they had not received any communication on the chief minister’s visit till late this afternoon. “Ideally if the chief minister and the representatives of the Union government were to come, then by now we should have received some communication,” said an official.

When the last set of contentious issues was solved in Calcutta on July 8, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said the agreement would be signed within 7 to 10 days. Morcha president Bimal Gurung while addressing party supporters in Kalimpong the same day said he was having “second thoughts” on who would sign the deal on behalf of the party. “I am having second thoughts. Even our party secretary (Roshan Giri) can sign the agreement,” he had said. Ideally, Gurung as party chief is expected to sign the agreement.

Asked about it today, Giri said: “There is nothing to say in this regard.” He also did not comment on the party’s stand to sign the deal in Delhi.

The Morcha today held a central committee meeting at Patlabas in Darjeeling. The party leaders were, however, tight-lipped about the discussion. “We merely apprised the members of the provisions of the GTA. There is nothing much to say about the meeting,” said Giri. There were talks that the Morcha might circulate the draft today but Giri replied in the negative.

It was also learnt that the Morcha has demanded a complete waiver of outstanding electricity bills of the hill residents. “We have already included it in the list of waivers we have demand from the Centre. Since the people did not pay the electricity bills because of the agitation, it should be waived off completely,” said another Morcha leader. The party had asked the hill people not to pay electricity bills as part of their non-co-operation movement. The outstanding dues in the hills have touched the Rs 70-crore mark.

~TT