Morcha willing to give new govt time

Darjeeling, May 20,TT: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has adopted a wait-and-watch policy, willing to give Mamata Banerjee time to settle down, before charting out its future course of statehood agitation.

Bimal Gurung’s party had said earlier that it would give Mamata time to solve the immediate problems — like the “debt she had been left with by the earlier government” — before they broach the statehood issue.

Both sides had been trying to build up rapport for sometime. Mamata had invited not only the three hill MLAs, but also the Morcha leadership to the swearing-in at Raj Bhavan today. A fourth MLA, the Morcha backed Wilson Chompromari from Kalchini, had also been invited.

On May 17, too, the Morcha MLAs had been invited to a railway programme in Siliguri, a gesture appreciated by the party.

The Trinamul-Congress alliance could win Siliguri and Matigara-Naxalbari seats, known to have considerable Gorkha population, with the support of the Morcha.

Moments after the swearing-in, the chief minister said in Calcutta that solving the hill imbroglio would be one of the priorities of her government and that she wanted the tripartite meetings involving the state, Centre and the Morcha to continue.

Morcha spokesperson and Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri, however, was cautious while reacting to Mamata’s statement.

“We hope she will take some bold decisions in our favour. At the moment, we will have to wait and watch. Let us see how things shape up,” said Chhetri.

He, however, reminded the new government about the hill mandate. “The election results clearly show that the mandate is for Gorkhaland as other parties which came up with issues like the Sixth Schedule and regional autonomy had to forfeit their deposits. Our demand is creation of Gorkhaland,” said Chhetri.

Asked if Mamata would agree to even discuss the statehood issue since she had ruled out the division of the state, Chhetri said: “We believe that after having won the election she can speak a lot more freely now. She has to understand that the hills have voted for statehood.”

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri, who had led the party’s delegation to Calcutta, had said earlier in the day that Mamata had expressed her desire to visit the Darjeeling hills at the earliest.

GNLF exodus

GNLF supporters have started resigning en-masse from the party across the hills, citing lack of confidence in the leadership which has dumped the demand for Gorkhaland.

Manju tea garden, the native place of the GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh, are among the places where the party members have announced their resignation. “After holding a meeting with our supporters today, we are of the opinion that the GNLF leadership is aimless and the best option is to resign from the party,” said Kiran Rasaily, a GNLF leader in Manju.

Those who quit the party belonged to Gairi Gaon, Manju School Dara and Dara Gaon in Manju, areas around 60km or so from Darjeeling.