Darjeeling: Plan for Mamata’s first hill party meet

Darjeeling, June 25: A Trinamul Congress leader today said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had agreed to address a public meeting of the party in the hills, which would be the first by Mamata after she came to power in Bengal.

Rajen Mukhia, the convenor of Trinamul in the hills, said the meeting would either be held in Mirik or in Kalimpong after the panchayat elections.

Mukhia said: “We have been directed by Didi to make arrangements to hold a public meeting either in Mirik or in Kalimpong after the panchayat elections. We have already started preparations.”

He made the announcement after the hill Trinamul district committee met at the Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan hall in Darjeeling to discuss strategies to strengthen the organisation in the hills.

One of the plans of Trinamul is to form workers’ unions in all 87 tea gardens in the hills. Now, only the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has unions in the tea gardens.

In Calcutta, Mukul Roy, the all-India general secretary of Trinamul, confirmed the plan for Mamata’s political meeting in the hills.

“Yes, it is correct that Mamatadi will address a public meeting in the Darjeeling hills after the panchayat polls,” he said.

“This is a part of our efforts to make inroads in the Darjeeling hills and we shall hold a meeting either in Mirik or Kalimpong to capitalise on what we feel is a warm response from the people there. Several local leaders from there have joined our party.”

Asked why the party had planned for a public meeting in Mirik or Kalimpong, not Darjeeling town, Roy said: “We first want to make inroads in Mirik, Kalim- pong and other places because our organisation in Darjeeling town is not very strong.”

For several months now, Trinamul has tried to make a base in the hills, especially in Mirik and Kalimpong.

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders like Nanita Gautam and Praven Rahupal have joined Trinamul in Kalimpong recently.

Mamata has visited the hills several times after coming to power but all the trips have been for government programmes.

Among senior Trinamul leaders, only Mukul Roy has delivered a speech at a public meeting of the party in the hills a few months ago.

About forming trade unions, Mukhia said: “We will soon form trade unions in all 87 tea gardens in the hills and four units in cinchona plantations as well.”

N.B. Khawash, the general secretary of Trinamul’s hill unit, said: “We will also form unions for workers of both the organised and unorganised sectors in the hills.”

Before the meeting started today, Trinamul leaders submitted a memorandum to the Darjeeling district magistrate and superintendent of police on the attack on party workers by alleged Morcha cadres at Selphu on June 19.

“We have requested the district magistrate to provide relief to Dhan Bahadur Rai, Trinamul president of the party’s Selphu unit, whose shop was razed to the ground by Morcha activists on June 19. The shop was the only source of livelihood for him,” said Mukhia.

The Trinamul leaders asked the district police chief to arrest the alleged masterminds of the attack.

Trinamul had mentioned Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri, and Morcha leaders Ratan Thapa and brother Ramesh Thapa.

So far, the police have arrested six of the 14 people named in the FIR. 

The Telegraph