Even as attempts are on by the Centre and the West Bengal government to find ways out of the political impasse in the Darjeeling Hills, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee held talks with the leadership of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) shortly after her arrival in Darjeeling on Sunday.
The GJM leadership — which continues to have differences with both the Centre and the State government on key issues like the territorial jurisdiction of the interim authority proposed for the region — was reportedly assured by Ms. Banerjee of assistance to facilitate development and the restoration of peace in the hills.
“Our demand for the inclusion of Gorkha-dominated areas in the Terai and Dooars region of north Bengal within the jurisdiction of the interim authority was placed before her in the form of a document,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told The Hindu over telephone shortly after the meeting.
Matters related to the GJM's “ultimate” demand for a separate Gorkhaland State did not figure in the discussions, according to GJM president Bimal Gurung. Yet questions are being asked about the context of Ms. Banerjee's two-day visit to the hills, over whether the Trinamool and the GJM are warming up to each other ahead of next year's Assembly polls.
The support of the Gorkha community is viewed as critical for the Trinamool to extend its influence over parts of north Bengal. It would also serve the GJM well in the event of the Trinamool coming to power in the State.
The message that the GJM leadership tried putting across was that the talks with Ms. Banerjee were in her “official” capacity as Union Railway Minister.
Memoranda were submitted by the GJM leaders to Ms. Banerjee listing its various demands on matters relating to the railways, the tea industry and education.
The State leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has scoffed at Ms. Banerjee's purported intentions of establishing peace in the hills at a time when the Trinamool is allegedly bent on creating lawlessness in the rest of West Bengal.
Warm welcome
But the GJM seems to have gone out of its way to accord a warm welcome to Ms. Banerjee. As her vehicle drove up the hills, people carrying GJM flags and shouting slogans in support of Gorkhaland waved out to her at various places along the way.
And though the functions that Ms. Banerjee is to address on Monday are being organised by the Railway Ministry, the GJM leadership asserted that its supporters would be present “in their thousands” to make the programmes a success.
Ms. Banerjee also met Bharati Tamang, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, who reiterated her demand for an inquiry by the CBI into the murder of her husband, Madan Tamang, allegedly by GJM activists, in Darjeeling in May.
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