Gorubathan, March 26: Mamata
Banerjee today told a Trinamul Congress rally here that the GTA Sabha
run by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was not utilising funds for
development works, pointing to the bad state of a road she had taken to
reach the venue.
The Trinamul Congress leader said
the State Highway 12 which had brought her to Gorubathan yesterday was
in disrepair because the hill body was not utilising funds for
development works.
Gorubathan, 60km
from Siliguri, is part of the Kalimpong Assembly constituency and comes
under the jurisdiction of the GTA. Her assumption was that since a large
stretch of the road fell within the GTA territory, it was the hill
body’s responsibility to repair it.
However, district
officials pointed out that perhaps the chief minister was unaware that
state highway was being maintained by the Border Roads Organisation and
not the GTA.
Beginning her speech, Mamata said: “Who will make the road? GTA de diya hai… Kaam to pehle karo.. khali chillata hai (GTA
has been given to them… Do the work first… You only shout). There are
three stages in being educated… First the primary level, then the
secondary, then college and finally university… Without completing the
primary level education they want admission in the university.”
The chief minister
was touching on an issue that had been highlighted by Congress
vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Jalpaiguri yesterday. After travelling on
a potholed road to the venue of a Congress workers’ meeting, Rahul
slammed the Mamata government for the sorry state of roads and
“non-utilisation of funds” in Bengal.
Upset with the
Morcha for its decision to lend support to the BJP in the Darjeeling Lok
Sabha seat, the bumpy ride to Gorubathan may have been just a ruse for
Mamata to hit out at the hill party.
Although Morcha leaders had turned up at a
rally of Trinamul at Brigade Parade Grounds in Calcutta on January 30,
efforts to field a common candidate by the two parties in Darjeeling
fell through after Mamata had unilaterally announced the name of
Bhaichung Bhutia for the seat.
Today, the chief
minister blamed the Morcha for the failure of talks between the two
parties to stitch an alliance. “I called them up (the Morcha) thrice to
settle the candidate. They said their party would discuss, decide… Such a
big party they are, international party… How long could I wait? I am
not their servant,” she said.
Taking a dig at
the Morcha for backing BJP candidate S.S. Ahluwalia, Mamata asked why
the hill outfit couldn’t find a single candidate from the hills.
“They keep making
trouble and go to Delhi at every opportunity. They are asking for
Gorkhaland but couldn’t find a single candidate (from the hills).
Bhaichung is from the hills. Is there any difference between the hills
in Darjeeling and Sikkim?” she asked.
Bhaichung was on the dais with the chief minister.
Mamata also reminded the crowd of the
number of times she had visited the Darjeeling hills and the development
programmes announced by her government.
The chief minister
had to repeatedly wave the Trinamul flag bearing the party symbol at
the crowd to familiarise the gathering, largely comprising Gorkhas, with
Bhaichung’s election symbol.
Although Mamata is
banking on the immense popularity of the former Indian football captain
in the hills to wrest the seat from the Morcha-BJP combine, she is
aware that there won’t be a walkover as the Morcha still has a
significant clout in the hills.
In 2009, the
Morcha supported BJP candidate, Jaswant Singh, had polled 51.5 per cent
of the votes. In the Assembly elections, the Morcha candidate for
Kalimpong had bagged more than 87 per cent votes.
“It has to be seen
whether the Morcha can still control the voting pattern in the
Darjeeling hills. There is every possibility that communities like the
Lepchas and Tamangs would vote in favour of the Trinamul candidate
because the government has set up development boards for these
communities. These hill communities used to vote for the predominant
party in the hills before. Like in the plains, the hill votes could also
be splintered this time,” said a Trinamul leader.
Gorubathan is
located between the Darjeeling hills and the Dooars. Leaders of the
Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad and hill communities like the
Lepchas, Tamangs, Rais and Bhutias attended today’s meeting.
The Parishad had already announced that it would support Trinamul in the Lok Sabha polls.
At Birpara in Alipurduar, where Mamata addressed another workers’ conference later in the day, she had a reason to smile.
The Greater Cooch
Behar People’s Association and Bodo Sahitya Sabha pledged support to
Trinamul in the Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seats.
Source: The Telegraph