Gorkha Janmukti Morcha team to meet Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan

Darjeeling, Feb. 14: A Gorkha Janmukti Morcha team will meet Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan in Calcutta tomorrow in an indication that the hill party is exploring all avenues to end the current impasse with the state government.

Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha, said: “Our delegation will meet the governor and they will take up all the present issues.” The team will have Harka Bahadur Chhetri, Trilok Dewan and Rohit Sharma, the Morcha MLAs of Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Kurseong, respectively, as well as Amar Singh Rai, the chairman of Darjeeling municipality and the civic chief of Kalimpong L.B. Pariyar.

Sources said the meeting is scheduled between 5pm and 6pm.

Gurung plans to hold a big public meeting in Kalimpong on Sunday. “If the Morcha finds no comfort from the governor at tomorrow’s meeting, Gurung might immediately announce his decision to step down at the Kalimpong meeting. Else, he might wait for sometime as there are signs that the Congress is cosying up with Gurung and has advised him not to step down from the post of the chief executive of the GTA Sabha,” said a source in the hills.

The meeting with the governor comes at a time when the relations between Bimal Gurung and chief minister Mamata Banerjee have hit a low. The latest trigger was the state government’s announcement of a Lepcha development board under it, and not the GTA which the Morcha wants.

Publicly, Gurung has not blinked before the government but the meeting is an indication that the Morcha does not want to close all doors that could bring about a truce. “If the meeting… ends on a positive note, it could help calm frayed nerves,” said the source. 

Source: VIVEK CHHETRI, The Telegraph