Gorkhaland Territorial Administration(GTA): queries hit Trinamul growth

Siliguri, Feb. 22.TT: Trinamul efforts to expand its base in the Terai and the Dooars have been hit badly with party leaders complaining that they were having to face uncomfortable questions on the demand to include some plains mouzas in the new hills set-up.

Although the questions are coming from the common man, the task has been made more difficult by outfits like the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, which have considerable clout in the tea belt and are opposing the GTA and the territory panel.

“So far, we have opened units on only 45 tea estates in the Dooars (out of the 160-odd gardens) and are yet to focus on the Terai. In course of our campaign at the grassroots-level, we are facing uncomfortable questions. In that case, we have to steer our discussions and limit it to only tea. But questions are cropping up, specially on the GTA and on the Morcha demand,” said Joachim Buxla, the president of the Trinamul Tea Plantation Workers’ Union.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has been demanding that some of the plains mouzas be brought under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. The Trinamul government has formed a committee to look into the demand, which has invited widespread protests from the Dooars and the Terai. The inclusion of Morcha members in the committee has also drawn criticism.

“There is no denying that questions are being tossed at us on the relevance of forming a territory committee. In such cases, we urge the people to keep faith in the chief minister and highlight the plans that she has for the Dooars and Terai,” Buxla said.

Other Trinamul trade union leaders said they were having to live with “political uneasiness” in a region where tea gardens are major vote banks.

“People are asking us why the government is not simply announcing that no new area will be made part of the GTA instead of forming a committee. We have no reply to this. Also, we have no answer to why four Morcha representatives, and none from the Dooars and the Terai, are on the panel. This is having a negative effect on our plans to expand our base in the brew belts. We are apprehensive that the CPM and Citu, which had lost base after the emergence of Parishad and Trinamul ahead of the Assembly polls, might make a comeback,” the leader said.

He said while CPM leaders were always speaking on the committee and the GTA, Trinamul was being forced to be silent.

Buxla, too, admitted that government intervention was needed to gain people’s confidence. “Being a member of the North Bengal Development Council, I had tried to provide some feedback about the common man’s aspirations to the government,” he said. “There is no doubt that government intervention is required to gain the confidence of the brew belt.”