Gurung sets out for meeting with PC - Delhi parleys key to settlement of hill imbroglio, talks with Pranab on cards

Darjeeling, June 1(VIVEK CHHETRI )TT:  Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung and other senior party leaders today left for New Delhi for a meeting with the Union home minister, a move which is indicative of an early solution to the imbroglio in the Darjeeling hills

The leaders have departed for the capital, two days after their talks with Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Calcutta.

“We will leave for Delhi this evening and we are expecting to meet the Union home minister either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said over the phone from Calcutta.

Other Morcha leaders who were accompanying Gurung said they had no prior information of the team’s Delhi trip. “Our party president informed us last evening that we would be leaving for Delhi. When we left Darjeeling for Calcutta on Sunday, there was no talk of a meeting with P. Chidambaram,” said a senior Morcha leader.

He added that the there was a possibility of even a meeting between Gurung and Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee during the stay in Delhi.

The unfolding events suggest that the central and state governments and the Morcha could reach on a deal as early as possible to put in place an administrative mechanism for the hills. After his talks with Mamata on Monday, Gurung had said he was “very happy” with the chief minister’s plans for the hills.

Observers believe Gurung left for Delhi to understand the Centre’s point of view before firming up the Morcha’s decision at the meeting between the party leaders and state officials in Calcutta on June 6.

“Ultimately, the Centre’s nod is needed before settling for anything. The Morcha leaders probably want to understand the Centre’s stand before taking a final call on the issue,” said an observer.

Trinamul sources in Calcutta say the chief minister is willing to transfer almost all departments, except home, to a new body to administer the hills. “The talks on interim set-up for the hills had collapsed over issues regarding the transfer of departments. The new chief minister is willing to transfer almost all the departments,” said a source. It is also learnt that the government is willing to look into the Morcha’s earlier demand for transfer of tauzi department and providing legislative powers to the new body, sources said.

However, the state government’s stand is not clear on the territory, which will come under the jurisdiction of the new body, be it the separate state or an interim council.

The Morcha while discussing the interim set-up had earlier demanded that the territorial jurisdiction of the new body should include Nepali-dominated areas of the Terai and the Dooars.

“There was no scope for a detailed discussion on intricate issues and that is why another meeting was slated for June 6,” said the source.

On the territory, the Morcha had suggested the formation of a joint verification committee to look into the matter.

The observers are also curious to know how the Morcha will justify its likely decision to accept the new arrangement, other than the statehood. “Earlier, they had sold the interim set-up, saying the then state government could not take any decision because of the impending Assembly elections. It needs to be seen with what kind of justification the Morcha will come up if they settle for something less than the statehood,” said an observer.