Gorkha Territory Readies for Polls
KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government on Wednesday issued the notification for the GTA Act, signalling preparations for elections in the Darjeeling Hills, even as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) demanded the inclusion of some 400 moujas in the Terai-Dooars. The notification to formulate rules for the elections to the GTA will be issued on Thursday. According to the gazette notification issued by the hill affairs department, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Act to set up the GTA for the Darjeeling Hills takes effect on March 14, 2012.The GTA Bill was passed in the Bengal Assembly in September last year, accommodating most changes sought by the GJM. Through 54 amendments, the GTA Bill had tried to ensure that the legislation was in accordance with the tripartite agreement and the Hills body got more autonomy than the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), which it will eventually replace. After the chief minister had blamed the Centre for the delay in getting assent, there was possibility that the fragile peace brokered by the GTA deal might have been disturbed once again. The GTA Bill got presidential assent on March 7, paving the way for setting up the GTA and holding elections in the Hills.
Even as the notification for the Act was passed on Wednesday, Section 74 of the Act was not included. This section had talked about repealing the DGHC Act, 1988. An official at Writers' Buildings explained, "Since the elections haven't been held and the GTA haven't been formed, the DGHC must remain. The DGHC Act will be repealed only after the formation of the GTA." Officials at Writers' Buildings were busy giving final touches to the rules for the elections. The polls will be conducted by the state government since neither the Election Commission nor the State Election Commission has the mandate for it. The district magistrate (DM), Darjeeling, is likely to be the authority for holding the elections.
The election rules will be more or less on the same lines as that of the DGHC and electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used for the polls. On Tuesday, chief secretary Samar Ghosh had said, "The election to the formation of the GTA will be held with the existing area as per the tripartite agreement. The government is not taking cognizance of the GJM's demands." On Friday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had iterated that elections in the Hills will be held as per the tripartite agreement. The GJM's demand, however, is contrary to the agreement.
The GJM has been demanding that the high-power committee, looking into the inclusion of fresh areas from the Terai and Dooars in GTA, should submit its report before elections are held. Now that the notification for giving effect to the GTA Act has been issued, the delimitation process for the election will also begin. After delimitation, a draft will be published for the delimited constituencies. There will be an interval of 15 days to register objections.
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