Trinamul leader Gautam Deb today said the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had
lost its clout in the plains as a large number of people had switched
from the hill outfit to the ruling party because of Mamata Banerjee
government's development agenda.
The north Bengal development minister, who is contesting from the
Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly segment, said: "The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is a
dwindling political force in the plains. In Dabgram-Fulbari, the Morcha
had over 8,000 voters in 2011. But most of them have switched to
Trinamul because of consistent development works carried out by our
government in the past five years. As of now, the Morcha has hardly 500
voters in my constituency. The hill party has some votes in
Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly segment but it is not a force to be reckoned
with."
He said in the three-tier panchayat elections in Siliguri subdivision
last year, the Morcha had fielded candidates in a number of seats but
could not bag even a single panchayat in Matigara or Naxalbari block.
"This proves that people are deserting the Morcha and joining
Trinamul. Nevertheless, we are keeping a close watch on the situation
and accordingly, will devise our political strategy."
He was talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the Darjeeling
district conference of the West Bengal Trinamul Secondary Teachers'
Association in Matigara, on the outskirts of Siliguri.
Deb launched a broadside against the Left Front for extending support to the Morcha in three hill Assembly segments.
"The Left Front has lost its ideology and ethics. Their decision to
support the Morcha is not in consonant with what Surjya Kanta Mishra
said earlier. He had said the CPM would not support the Morcha unless it
shunned its demand for a separate state and severed ties with the BJP.
Despite such statements, yesterday's decision by the Darjeeling district
Left leaders has raised serious questions about their intentions. The
decision to support the Morcha also proves the Left Front's tacit
understanding with the BJP."
Yesterday, Darjeeling district Left Front convener Jibesh Sarkar had
announced that they would support the Morcha in Darjeeling, Kalimpong
and Kurseong in the .(TT)
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