Memorandum demanding Sikkim-Darjeeling merger submitted to guv

Demanding the merger of Sikkim, Darjeeling District and the Dooars, the Gorkha Rashtriya Congress on Sunday evening submitted a deputation to Governor MK Narayanan at the Raj Bhawan in Darjeeling.
The GRC was formed around a decade ago and has since been demanding a Sikkim-Darjeeling merger, claiming the latter to be the lost territory of the erstwhile kingdom of Sikkim.
A GRC delegation headed by its president Nima Lama met Governor Narayanan at the Raj Bhawan and served a six-page deputation demanding the merger. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes.
Talking to reporters today in Kurseong, GRC president Lama said, “We served the deputation demanding the unification of Darjeeling District and the Dooars with Sikkim for the continued integrity of the nation and also to achieve a permanent solution to this region that has been embroiled in restlessness for a long time.”
According to Lama, the governor wanted to know whether the people wanted a merger and they answered him in the affirmative. Narayanan reportedly told the delegation the case would be dealt by the State Reorganisation Commission and the GRC would have to wait until such a commission is formed. The governor also reportedly assured of the forwarding the GRC’s memorandum to the Centre.
Besides the merger issue, Lama said they also discussed various national and regional issues during.
“The governor told us the unification matter would be looked into by the SRC and we thanked him for assuring our demand would be forwarded to the central government,” concluded Lama. (EOIC)