Darjeeling, Oct. 17: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and other senior leaders of the party today left for New Delhi to “clearly know the Centre's mind” on the creation of Telangana state, party sources said today.
Morcha insiders said the leadership could not sit “smugly” if Delhi went ahead with the formation of Telangana and would have to restart with “renewed vigour” the movement for Gorkhaland.
The fresh agitation for Telangana has cast a shadow on the formation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and the peace that the Darjeeling hills have been witnessing ever since the tripartite pact for the arrangement was signed by the state, the Centre and the Morcha.
Although Gurung was tight-lipped about the visit, party sources said he was expected to meet Union home minister P. Chidambaram and Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Those accompanying Gurung include Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri, spokesperson and MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri and central committee member Jyoti Kumar Rai.
“Our leaders are keeping tabs on the developments regarding Telangana,” said a source. “They will try and gauge the mood of the Centre on the Telangana issue. We cannot sit idle and laud the GTA while Telangana is formed.”
A section in the Morcha wants the party to intensify the agitation for statehood as soon as possible if the team believes that there are “positive indications” on the formation of Telangana state.
“We might be happy with the development packages announced by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. But if a separate Telangana state is formed, we cannot simply sit idle. It is a serious issue for us and we will have to plunge headlong into a more intensified agitation,” said the source.
As long as Telangana is not created, the Morcha can be content with the formation of the GTA. “Otherwise, we have very little option before us,” said a Morcha leader.
“It is a question of political survival. We have promised the people of the Darjeeling hills a separate state and we have raised their hopes. We have told them that the GTA is a step forward in that direction. Now, if Telangana is formed, we cannot carry on happily with the GTA. We have to go in for a long and sustained agitation to attain our ultimate goal.”
During her visit to Darjeeling last week, chief minister Mamata Banerjee after announcing a slew of projects said: “Whatever you ask from me, I will give you....I am ready to give my life. But I am not ready to give up Darjeeling.”
In the five minutes that Gurung spoke at the same programme as Mamata, he had said about the chief minister: “She has given us what we thought, what we expected. She has won our hearts.”
The sources said the Morcha leadership might immediately resume the statehood agitation if it believed that the Centre was on the verge of forming Telangana.
The Morcha team will also inquire about the Rs 1,000 crore demand made by the party for relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of the September 18 earthquake.
TT
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