Darjeeling, May 2.TT: The CPRM organised a massive May Day rally in Darjeeling yesterday, the first major show of strength by any outfit in the hills after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was formed in 2007.
Whenever the CPRM or other parties had tried to assemble their supporters in the past, the Morcha would hold its own programmes at the same venues or use force to scuttle the rivals’ events.
Its not that the Morcha didn’t try to spoil yesterday’s CPRM show, but Bimal Gurung’s supporters were taken aback when they found that the rally had a huge participation.
The CPRM, the second largest party in the hills, claimed that around 5,000 people had taken part in the May Day rally.
“The Janmukti Unorganised Sector Labour Union (an affiliate of the Morcha) tried to foil our rally by putting up their flags and posters near our venue at Chowk Bazar. But they failed in their attempts,” said CPRM leader Govind Chhetri.
Some of the CPRM supporters alleged that Morcha workers had tried to “create an atmosphere of fear” by asking traders to keep their shops shut at Chowk Bazar.
But in private, the CPRM leaders conceded that unlike in the past, there was no “serious effort” to thwart the rally. “The Morcha didn’t use any force to prevent us from holding the rally yesterday. Nor did they do anything to stop our supporters from reaching Chowk Bazar to attend the rally,” said a CPRM leader.
The Morcha union denied that it had made any attempt to disrupt the CPRM event. “We didn’t want any confrontation now. There is peace in the hills and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is set to be formed. There is no need for provoking a law and order problem now,” said David Rai, the president of the union.
Last year, the CPRM didn’t hold any rally in Darjeeling on May Day. The party, instead, chose Sonada, about 20km away, to organise the event. The CPRM had held a rally in Darjeeling on May 1, 2010, but hardly 500 people took part in it.
The activities of the parties opposed to the Morcha dried up in the hills, especially after the murder of ABGL leader Madan Tamang in 2010. Until his death, Tamang was the only leader to stand up to the Morcha and organise public meetings in Darjeeling.
Other parties like the CPRM, Congress or even the CPM rarely organised public meetings and when they did, the attendance was thin.
The successful rally yesterday has come as a “morale booster” for the CPRM.
“Let me make it clear that any attempt to disrupt our rallies can never be a success from today onwards. Any bid to threaten our cadres will have serious consequences,” Govind Chhetri said at the rally.
R.B. Rai, the president of the CPRM and a former Rajya Sabha member, said the party had been able to “expose” the Morcha’s “insincerity” towards the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.
“We shall carry on with our movement for Gorkhaland and when the time comes, we will make the statehood dream a reality.”
Even former CPM minister Asok Bhattacharya saw yesterday’s rally as a “positive development” for the hills. “We might not agree with the CPRM’s speeches (on statehood) but the turnout at their meeting is a positive development. It is an indication that democracy is slowly returning to the hills,” he said over the phone from Siliguri.
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