The CPM’s Darjeeling constituency
candidate, Saman Pathak, today attended a party meeting at Jagannath
Dharamshala in Kalimpong announcing the start of his electoral campaign.
He said the main aim of his party is to permanently resolve the
problems surrounding the Darjeeling hills and an amendment of the Sixth
Schedule is the only way to end all such issues.
“An amended Sixth Schedule will include
SC, minorities, and the common man and guarantee all of them
constitutional safeguard,” he stressed.
Pathak said the CPM has always stood for
strong autonomous governance of the hills and such an autonomous body
should be constituted as per the 244th amended Sixth Schedule.
The CPM candidate said, “The problems of
the Darjeeling hills are political and should be resolved politically.
The ruling Trinamool Congress has always tried to suppress the voice of
the common people by force, while the central government is only looking
for personnel benefits when dealing with the hills. Now, the CPM will
take progressive steps for a long-term settlement of all the thorny
issues.”
Pathak added the Darjeeling hills should
be included in the North East council as it fully meets the criteria
required. Further, to make the voice of the hills heard at the national
level, a representative from Darjeeling should be included in the
Centre’s planning commission, he noted. He also tabled a proposal to
make the Darjeeling hills a tax free region.
Hitting out at TMC supremo Mamata
Banerjee, Pathak accused her of resorting to power politics to suppress
the voice of the masses, and stressed the CPM would never deploy the
CRPF as it always holds the people’s voice in high esteem.
Further, the CPM candidate said all
Gorkhas settled in various parts of the country should come together as a
language minority to find a solution to their identity issue. “The
Gorkha people should urge the government to make them a language
minority as everyone will get equal benefits once the status is
achieved,” he said.
Pathak also slammed BJP MP Jashwant
Singh and said, “In his five-year tenure as MP of the constituency, he
did nothing for the benefit of the people and instead chose to sit
silently during parliamentary sessions.”
He claimed that during his tenure as MP
in the Rajya Sabha, he participated in 31 debate sessions related to
issues concerning Darjeeling, but Singh took part in just two of the 18
debates held during his term.(EOIC)