Darjeeling, March 9: Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha leader Binay Tamang today said Bhaichung Bhutia called
up hill party chief Bimal Gurung in Delhi last night seeking his
endorsement to his Trinamul candidature but was turned down.
A source in the
hills said the Morcha was giving out the information about Bhaichung’s
phone call targeting the hill Trinamul, which does not want any tie-up
with the Morcha for the election.
Bhaichung today
confirmed that he had made a phone call to Gurung and that the talk “did
not come to the logical conclusion”. He said he spoke to Gurung because
party seniors wanted to speak to the hill leader.
“Bhaichung Bhutia
called up our party president around 10.10 last night and they spoke for
around five to seven minutes,” said Tamang, who is in Delhi with
Gurung.
Tamang said
Bhaichung sought Morcha’s support for the Darjeeling seat. “He told our
president that it would be very difficult to win the Darjeeling seat
without his support,” Tamang, who is a GTA Sabha member, said.
Gurung reportedly
said Trinamul had fielded Bhaichung without consulting the Morcha.
“Moreover, our party president also pointed out that Trinamul cadres in
the hills had posed a challenge to win the seat without the Morcha’s
support and in such a situation it would be difficult for the Morcha to
support Bhaichung’s candidature,” Tamang, the Morcha assistant secretary, said.
The hill source
said: “Back-door negotiations between politicians are common during
election time, but the Morcha seems to be purposely leaking this to
further antagonise the hill Trinamul leadership.”
On Friday,
Trinamul district committee vice-president Rajen Tamang, popularly known
as Appa Rajen, had loudly protested at a news conference in Darjeeling
when Bhaichung had suggested he would like to seek the Morcha’s
support.
The source said:
“Such a disclosure is expected to help the Morcha.” Rajen Tamang today
said that the Morcha was unnecessarily making an issue of the call.
Trinamul sources
said Bhaichung has decided to meet Rajen Tamang in Darjeeling on
Tuesday. Observers believe that Bhaichung is expected to smoothen
ruffled feathers.
Bhaichung said he had called up Gurung a “day after my name was announced by the TMC”.
“My seniors in the
party wanted to talk with Gurung for the alliance following which the
call was made. The talk did not come to the logical conclusion.” Asked
which leaders the Morcha team spoke to in Delhi, Binay Tamang said: “We
will inform the media only when there is some concrete announcement to
make.”(TT)