Ready for talks with Bengal govt: Gurung

Kolkata: After Binay Tamang refused to share platform with him, Bimal Gurung on Thursday said Tamang had expressed his personal opinion and not the demand of the Hills people. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was ready to enter into a dialogue with the West Bengal government without any prejudice, he added.

“Whatever he (Tamang) has said is his viewpoint. I have not come here to discuss him... We are ready to sit with the state government and bring a change in the state,” Gurung said two weeks after the press conference where he announced severance of his ties with BJP.
On November 3, chief minister Mamata Banerjee held talks with Tamang and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) chairman Anit Thapa for over half an hour at Nabanna, following which Tamang sent out a message that the meeting was “fruitful”. After coming out of the state secretariat on Tuesday, the GJM leader had said there was “no discussion” on Gurung even after the fugitive Gorkha leader pledged support to the CM in a surprise press meet held in the city on October 21.
On Thursday, 17 councillors of Darjeeling Municipality, who had earlier defected to BJP, rallied behind Gurung pledging him their support. In June last year, the Bengal government had dissolved the municipality and appointed an administrator. The order was passed after these 17 councillors had defected to BJP and submitted a memorandum to municipality chairperson Pratibha Rai Tamang, asking the chairperson — who is close to the Binay Tamang faction — to prove her majority.
Speaking for the 17 councillors at a city hotel, Noman Rai said: “We supported BJP to find a solution to our specific demands. We believed they would keep their promises of permanent solution to the Hills crisis and include 11 Gorkha communities in ST list. Our demands were mentioned in BJP’s Sankalp Patra, but nothing was done after that.”
Gurung said all of those who had joined him were present to strengthen his resolve to support CM Banerjee. “We will fight together with Trinamool Congress now to teach BJP a lesson. We will change the results in north Bengal. I am not into politics just to give false promises,” he said.
“We are with Mamata Banerjee because she goes by her commitments. We have apprised her about our demands of permanent political solution and we hope it will get fulfilled. We will work hard to bring her back to power for the third time,” Gurung said. 

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