Darjeeling, Feb. 28: Mamata
Banerjee has invited the representatives of 10 communities in the
Darjeeling hills to Nabanna for a meeting with her tomorrow as she seeks
to leave no stone unturned to grab the support of a majority of people
in the region.
The meeting comes close on the
heels of the state government’s decision to recommend Scheduled Tribe
status for Rai, Yakkha, Gurung, Bhujel, Newar, Jogi, Sunwar-Mukhia,
Mangar, Khas and Thami communities.
Sources at Nabanna
said the chief minister had signed a file today, recommending the ST status for the 10 communities. The file has been returned to the
backward classes welfare department which will send the recommendation
to the Centre tomorrow.
“Ideally, the
proposal should have been vetted by the state cabinet. But the chief
minister does not want to delay the process and it will be mentioned in a
cabinet meet later,” said an official.
The state
government’s move to seek the ST status is being seen as a political
stunt ahead of the Lok Sabha polls as a survey has shown that most of
the communities don’t fulfil the economic and social criteria needed for
the tag.
A leader of a hill
community who refused to be identified said: “The meeting is at
Nabanna, Howrah, at 3pm tomorrow. We are unaware of the agenda.”
The representative
of another community said: “I think we will be briefed on the state’s
effort to grant ST status to the 10 hill communities.”
Observers said the
invitation was part of a bid by the chief minister to secure the
support of the 10 communities for the Trinamul Congress in the
Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. “The 10 communities represent more than 50
per cent of the hill population. Mamata’s meeting is aimed at getting
these communities on her side. If she can cajole these communities into
supporting the Trinamul candidate in Darjeeling, there is every chance
of her party’s victory,” said an observer.
Of the approximate
14 lakh voters in the Darjeeling seat, about 6.5 lakh are from the
hills. The Darjeeling seat has mostly been won by a candidate backed by
the predominant hill party as the hill voters would vote en masse. The
votes in the plains get divided among the Congress, CPM, Trinamul and
other parties.
Although representatives of all the 10 communities could not be contacted by The Telegraph,
leaders of four-five communities admitted that they would be attending
the meeting in Howrah tomorrow. “We are already on our way,” said one of
the leaders.
The representative of only one community said he was not aware of the Nabanna meeting.
The Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha general secretary, Roshan Giri, said: “Its good that the
chief minister is meeting the community leaders. The government should
pursue the ST demand fast.”
Morcha chief Bimal
Gurung, had said yesterday that he would convene a meeting of the
leaders of the 10 communities here on March 5.
The Telegraph