GJM Supremo Bimal Gurung signals protest pause

Kolkata:Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today said the party would not resort to an agitation over GTA’s territorial reach, a day after talks with chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Calcutta. After landing at Bagdogra this afternoon from Calcutta, Gurung said when talks were on regarding the territorial issue, there was no question of launching any agitation or strikes. “Why should we have an agitation now when the talks are going on smoothly?” he said.

“The talks (with Union home minister and the chief minster) were fruitful and we are satisfied with the discussion held with them,” he told reporters, when asked about the series of the protests that he had planned to announce demand for the inclusion of 391 mouzas in the GTA from the Dooars and Terai. The Morcha had wanted 396 mouzas to be included in the GTA, but the Justice Shyamal Sen committee suggested the inclusion of only five. Two days later, an agitated Gurung announced a series of agitations. He also said another series of protests would be announced soon.

The Morcha also threatened that it would ask its MLAs from Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Kalchini to resign on July 17. “We will also burn copies of the GTA agreement at the Chowrasta on the same day,” Gurung had then said, adding that the future course of the agitation would be announced in a public meeting scheduled for July 27. Today, however, Morcha leaders attended an all-perty meeting called by the district administration to discuss the GTA elections. It is unlikely that the leaders went to the meeting without Gurung’s permission.

The GTA elections are scheduled for July 29. Gurung did not speak out clearly on the elections, and said the final decision taken at the party’s core committee meeting in Darjeeling tomorrow. All hill outfits, barring the GNLF, today attended the all-party meeting held in the conference hall of the Darjeeling district magistrate’s office. The Morcha was represented by R.P. Waiba, the vice-president of the party, two assistant secretaries Raju Pradhan and Jyoti Kumar Rai, and D.K. Pradhan, a former Darjeeling MLA and a member of the Morcha’s central committee.

Asked why the party attended an election related meeting when the Morcha chief had not spelt out its stand in the elections, Raju said: “Since the district administration invited all the political parties, we decided to attend the meeting. Since we have not yet taken a decision to contest the elections, we did not pass any comments during the meeting. We simply sat through the meeting.” The Morcha’s attendance at the meeting, however, is being seen an indication that the core committee meeting to be held tomorrow is a mere formality before the party makes an announcement to contest the elections.

The Trinamul Congress and the CPM were among the parties which clearly stated they would contest the GTA elections. The other principal anti-Morcha parties from the hills, the ABGL and the CPRM, however, said that they would decide on contesting the polls only after holding meetings in a few days. Laxman Pradhan, the vice-president of the ABGL, suggested to the district magistrate that the strong room (for storing EVMs) should be shifted from Singamari — a stronghold of Gurung — to the police lines in Darjeeling.

The CPRM wanted reservations for SC and ST communities in the elections. Saumitra Mohan, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, said no effort would be spared to conduct free and fair polls. “We have got some suggestions from the political parties which we have noted. We will ensure that the polls are free and fair. We will also seek the opinions of all the political parties in mapping vulnerability areas (sensitive polling booths),” said Mohan.

VIVEK CHHETRI AND BIRESWAR BANERJEE ( Telegraph)

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