KOLKATA: In the second leg of her Darjeeling visit, chief minister Mamata Banerjee reached Kalimpong on Thursday. While the apparent focus of her attention was promotion of tourism in the subdivision, observers said in politically volatile Kalimpong she would try to gauze if the movement for a separate state was snowballing again and alert the administration against it.
Since former Gorkha Liberation Organization (GLO) chief Chhatre Subba, after his release from jail, has thrown his weight behind the separate statehood demand, it has been a fresh cause of anxiety for Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung. Unless there is visible progress in the process of formation of the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA), Gurung has threatened to relaunch the demand for a separate state from March 27.
In her public address at Darjeeling Gymkhana on Wednesday, the chief minister issued a veiled warning to Chhatre, without naming him. "Those who want to create fresh trouble in the Hills are stooges of the CPM and they should go to the CPM office," she said in her address. In her meetings with the administration and with GJM leaders in Darjeeling, she was likely to discuss ways to contain Subba.
With the GTA bill now awaiting nod from the Centre, it was essential for Mamata to buy time and ensure that the Gorkhaland demand was not resumed, sources said. Gurung will find it politically difficult to resist if opposition parties and leaders pressed on the statehood issue. Mamata was trying to keep GJM in good humour by announcing developmental projects, but in important areas like the Balason water project there had not been much progress, they said. In her Gymkhana address, Mamata again pleaded that her government was faced with a severe fund crunch.
According to sources, GJM leaders have sought her help to convince the Centre about the demand that GTA should have the authority to issue Gorkha certificates, important for recruitments in the Army, to Gorkhas living all over the country. But, the chief minister could not make a promise readily, which did not help in bridging the growing chasm between Mamata and the GJM over delay in formation of GTA.
On her way from Darjeeling to Kalimpong, Mamata selected a few spots where she felt tourism could be promoted and tourist huts could be set up.
In Kalimpong town she attended receptions by the local community and also visited the Graham's Home School, which was damaged in the earthquake last year.
Since former Gorkha Liberation Organization (GLO) chief Chhatre Subba, after his release from jail, has thrown his weight behind the separate statehood demand, it has been a fresh cause of anxiety for Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung. Unless there is visible progress in the process of formation of the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA), Gurung has threatened to relaunch the demand for a separate state from March 27.
In her public address at Darjeeling Gymkhana on Wednesday, the chief minister issued a veiled warning to Chhatre, without naming him. "Those who want to create fresh trouble in the Hills are stooges of the CPM and they should go to the CPM office," she said in her address. In her meetings with the administration and with GJM leaders in Darjeeling, she was likely to discuss ways to contain Subba.
With the GTA bill now awaiting nod from the Centre, it was essential for Mamata to buy time and ensure that the Gorkhaland demand was not resumed, sources said. Gurung will find it politically difficult to resist if opposition parties and leaders pressed on the statehood issue. Mamata was trying to keep GJM in good humour by announcing developmental projects, but in important areas like the Balason water project there had not been much progress, they said. In her Gymkhana address, Mamata again pleaded that her government was faced with a severe fund crunch.
According to sources, GJM leaders have sought her help to convince the Centre about the demand that GTA should have the authority to issue Gorkha certificates, important for recruitments in the Army, to Gorkhas living all over the country. But, the chief minister could not make a promise readily, which did not help in bridging the growing chasm between Mamata and the GJM over delay in formation of GTA.
On her way from Darjeeling to Kalimpong, Mamata selected a few spots where she felt tourism could be promoted and tourist huts could be set up.
In Kalimpong town she attended receptions by the local community and also visited the Graham's Home School, which was damaged in the earthquake last year.
TOI
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