The Jana Andolan Party president, Harka Bahdur
Chhetri, today accused the Trinamul Congress of trying to break his
organisation in order to thwart JAP from emerging as a strong regional
force and also because of its refusal to align with any party in the
municipality elections.
State minister and Trinamul leader Aroop Biswas, however, denied the
allegations and said despite repeated proposals for an alliance from
their side to the JAP, the hill party did not respond to the call.
Chhetri, who was at one time considered to be close to Trinamul chief
and chief minister Mamata Banerjee, said Trinamul ministers were
frequently visiting Kalimpong with the sole purpose of breaking the JAP.
"Trinamul ministers keep frequenting Kalimpong only to break the JAP.
People must remain vigilant...The state never wants any regional party
to become strong, and the JAP is getting strong. That is why the
ministers keep frequenting Kalimpong to break the JAP," he told his
supporters at a programme organised to introduce the 23 candidates of
the party who will contest civic polls in Kalimpong. The event was held
at the Town Hall.
Elections at Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik municipalities
will be held on May 14.#The JAP president said both Trinamul and the
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha were focused on defeating his party in Kalimpong.
"There is a grand alliance at work against the JAP. There is Morcha
on one side and Trinamul on the other. The JAP has to struggle on its
own in such a difficult situation," he said.
The JAP has been saying from the very beginning that it will go alone
in the civic polls, despite frequent speculations of its possible
alliance with Trinamul and other parties.
"We have at least made Kalimpong the centre point of state politics.
Without us, neither Bimal Gurung nor Aroop Biswas would have come to
Kalimpong. They have had to come because we were not up for sale...We
have very clearly maintained that we cannot have an alliance with either
Trinamul or the Morcha because our ideology and principles do not
match," Chhetri asserted.
While Gurung had camped in Kalimpong for close to two months in an
effort to galvanise his supporters to ensure the Morcha's victory in the
municipal elections, Biswas has been a regular visitor to Kalimpong for
Trinamul programmes.
Chhetri also cautioned people against falling prey to false talks
about Kalimpong being denied funds by both the GTA and the state
government in the event of his party's victory.
"We condemn such talks. A government is of the entire people. We will get funds due to us from whatever source," he said.
In Siliguri, minister Biswas brushed aside Chhetri's allegations and
criticised the JAP leadership for not joining hands with Trinamul.
"We wanted to form an alliance with the JAP like we have allied with
the GNLF. The basic thought is to fight in a united manner against the
Morcha that has failed to carry out development in both the towns and
villages across the hills. The party was at the helm of all the four
municipalities but did nothing for people. Instead, the leaders and
elected representatives indulged in corruption. The JAP leaders however,
did not respond," Biswas, who is also the party's observer for
Darjeeling district, said.(TT)
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