Seventy people from Bimal Gurung's GTA constituency of Tukvar have
switched from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to Trinamul, prompting the
state's ruling party to claim it had caused an "explosion in the
capital" of Gorkhaland.
The new Trinamul entrants, none of whom were senior hill party
leaders, said their switch was driven by Mamata Banerjee's development
agenda for the hills. Gurung, who heads the Morcha and the GTA Sabha,
seemed unruffled by the development.
In political circles, Tukvar is loosely termed as the "capital of
Gorkhaland" as the Morcha president comes from there. The 70 who
switched from the Morcha to Trinamul are from Limbu Busty in Tukvar.
N.B. Khawas, the spokesman for Trinamul (hills), said: "Seventy
people joined our party from the Morcha yesterday evening. This is an
explosion in the capital. The hill people will closely follow this
development and the message from the induction will be huge. Tukvar has
for long controlled the politics of Darjeeling and Limbu Busty has
controlled Tukvar."
Limbu Busty is 12km from Darjeeling town.
The message, according to Khawas, is that people, including those
from Gurung's constituency, are looking for a change in the hills.
Gurung, however, did not sound too bothered about the resignation of
the residents of Limbu Busty from the Morcha and said Trinamul's ploy of
making false promises would be exposed.
"Even earlier, some people from Tukvar had joined Trinamul but they
are all inactive now. Many people who are into illegal activities are
looking for protection and Trinamul is indulging in that kind of
politics. After some time, those who have switched to Trinamul will
realise the false assurances of the party," Gurung said today.
Khawas, however, denied the allegations that Trinamul was providing protection to people with dubious credentials in the hills.
"We had a meeting with our party observer, Aroop Biswas, in Calcutta
on July 22 and a core committee with 12 members was formed. The
committee has been constituted mainly to run the party in a disciplined
manner," said Khawas.
The Trinamul leader said yesterday's switch had been led by Arpan
Rai, who is also the general secretary of the Khambu Rai Youth
Association.
"Even the association's president Manzil Rai from Mount Hermon estate
joined Trinamul. Winds of change are blowing in the hills and this is
largely because of our leader Mamata Banerjee's focus on development and
positive attitude towards the hills," said Khawas.
Arpan said the Limbu Busty residents had joined the Morcha for the development of their area.
"The Morcha has turned the cause of Gorkhaland into a begging bowl
and the GTA into a bargaining point. The issue is about development now
and instead of seeking an indirect development (through the GTA), it is
better to seek it directly from the state," said Arpan.
He alleged that Gurung had stifled democracy in the area and
corruption was rampant in the Morcha. "We supported the Morcha for
democracy but there is no democracy in our area. He tries to dominate
his supporters and functions like a dictator. There has been little
development and corruption is now at its peak," alleged Arpan.
"In 2007, the (erstwhile) DGHC had sanctioned Rs 6.18 crore for the
repair of the 19km long Darjeeling-Jorethang (Sikkim) road that falls in
our area. Till date, the road has not been repaired. This is the
attitude towards our place. We are planning to sow paddy on the road
tomorrow," said Arpan.
Gurung said he had no problems if opposition parties promised
development in his area. "I have no problem if the opposition parties
want to bring development to our area. They should do so by undertaking
development projects in my area and not by merely making promises to
construct roads and houses," he said.
Today, 30 Jana Andolan Party supporters from the Fagu forest village
in Gorubathan, Kalimpong, joined the Morcha at its office in Patlebas,
Tukvar. Gurung was present at the induction programme.(TT)
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