In a new development that suggested Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s desperation to play ball with the Mamata Banerjee Government, three of its MlAs on Sunday walked up to the Chief Minister’s residence with a formal request to be invited in the bipartite talks scheduled to be held on September 12 to solve the ongoing Darjeeling crisis.
Though the MlAs Amar Singh Rai, Rohit Sharma and Sarita Rai from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong in that order failed to get an audience from the Chief Minister they left a letter of request at her residence seeking an invitation for the talks, sources said.
The Morcha had earlier declined talks with the Government on any issue less than a separate State of Gorkhaland. But the State Government had earlier said that it was ready to talk anything but not Gorkhaland Party chief Bimal Gurung who was currently underground after being charged with UAPA following a series of IED blasts in Darjeeling districts had also expelled senior leaders Benay Tamang and Anik Thapa for suspending the indefinite Darjeeling bandh after the first round of talks that he joined in Kolkata. The indefinite strike in Darjeeling entered the 86th day on Sunday.
Since then both Tamang and Thapa had been holding rallies asking people to resume normal life and rely on the talks with the Government. Tamang was to hold a rally on Monday in support of his line and said he would start a hunger strike should his talks with the State Government fail.
Unlike the Gurung faction the Tamang lobby whose hold has increased in the past couple of weeks particularly after his decision to suspend the strike ahead of the tourist season had included a host of other issues like payment of bonus to the plantation workers along with what he called the “main issue of Gorkhaland.”
Thapa who was also expelled from the GJM by Gurung said he would also join the hunger strike should Tamang decided to do so. He also demanded the arrest of GJM supporters who indulged in violence. “We believe in non-violent struggle and if any one uses violence to terrorise people they should be arrested,” he said.
Meanwhile, both the Trinamool Congress led by a local MlA and Minister Gautam Deb and pro-Tamang crowds led by Thapa organised processions in remote areas of Darjeeling like Panighata, Kurseong where considerable amount of people joined their meetings and opened their establishments. Government banks also opened amid tight security and some public transport plied showing signs of normalcy creeping back to some extent ignoring the threats issue by the GJM supporters.