Darjeeling, July 18: Bimal Gurung
called on Mamata Banerjee here today, signalling a truce between the two
leaders whose relations had seen many ups and downs ever since an
agreement to set up the hill body had been signed on this very day three
years back.
Both Mamata and Gurung termed the meeting “positive”.
The meeting that
was scheduled at the last moment — till this morning, there had been no
word on a meeting between the two — happened at Richmond Hill, a
government guesthouse in Darjeeling. Gurung arrived to meet the chief
minister around 1.30pm and the two were closeted for about 25 minutes.
This is the first
time that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president has met Mamata without
any of his associates. Nor had he an impromptu meeting with Mamata
before.
In all previous
encounters, Gurung was being accompanied by a number of Morcha leaders.
The last time Mamata and Gurung held talks was on December 26, 2013,
when he was sworn in as the GTA chief executive for the second time in
Calcutta.
Today, Gurung was
the first to come out of Richmond Hill. “No comments,” he first said.
However, when pressed for a reaction, he said: “It was a courtesy visit.
The meeting was positive.”
Mamata on her way
to attend an administrative meeting in the Darjeeling district
magistrate’s office said: “The meeting (with Gurung) was very positive.
Bimalji has to attend two other programmes today but he will be sending
his representatives to the meeting (in the DM’s office.)”
The stage for today’s one-on-one was set by Mamata when she wished Gurung on his 50th birthday yesterday.
Mamata had claimed
that Darjeeling was smiling after the Morcha and the central and state
governments had signed a memorandum of agreement on the GTA formation on
July 18, 2011. However, the relations between the chief minister and
Gurung soon came under strain with the latter complaining of delay in
holding elections to the GTA. Finally, the elections were held in July
2012 and Gurung took oath as the chief executive of the GTA on August 4
that year.
Within five
months, cracks reappeared in the Gurung-Mamata bonhomie. The chief
minister told a crowd at Chowrasta here on January 29, 2013, that she
could be “rough and tough” and “Darjeeling is part of Bengal”. She was
greeted with a chorus of “We want Gorkhaland” slogans from the crowd.
Through most of
2013, the two leaders did not share a cordial relation. Gurung quit as
the chief executive on July 30 last year to mount pressure on the
government for the creation of Gorkhaland in the wake of the UPA
government’s decision to form Telangana.
On October 26,
2013, a Morcha delegation met Mamata at Richmond Hill and declared that
there would be a “bandh on bandhs”, bringing about a semblance of
normality in the government-GTA relations. Finally, Gurung returned to
the GTA hot seat in December.
In March this
year, the relations again nose-dived with the Morcha deciding to support
BJP candidate, S.S. Ahluwalia, in Darjeeling in the Lok Sabha
elections.
In continuance
with the goodwill received from Gurung, Mamata today announced that a
bilateral meeting would be held between the GTA and the state
government. “After the bilateral talks, there will also be a tripartite
meeting,” she added.
The chief minister
was referring to the meetings among the representatives of the GTA and
central and state governments to review the functioning of the hill body
as mandated by the GTA pact.
Mamata also
announced that Rs 9.7 crore would be released to the GTA under the
Indira Awas Yojna scheme. “Once UCs (utilisation certificates) are
submitted, more funds will be released,” she said.
During the
administrative meeting, it was decided that a master plan would be
prepared for Darjeeling district. “We will also sanction Rs 30 crore for
solid waste management, Rs 5 crore to set up a bio-tech hub in
Kalimpong and Rs 15 crore for development of tourism, hospitals and
sericulture,” said Mamata.
Twenty-eight new
buses would be introduced in the hills, while 150 non-refusal taxis
would be made operational between Siliguri and the hills.
Harka Bahadur
Chhetri, Kalimpong MLA who was present at the meeting, said: “The
meeting was very positive for the hills. Improvement in the relations
with the state government will definitely help the hill people. We have
already a good relation with the Centre as the Morcha is with the BJP.”(TT)