There was more irritation in the relationship between Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Bengal Government with the former on Tuesday demanding immediate audit of the Gorkhaland Territorial Authority’s finances. The GTA is presently run by the pro-Mamata Banerjee group of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
“When I came to know about large scale corruption in the GTA I enquired about things there and came to know that no audit has been done there. I think audit is a must and has to be done immediately and I can assure the people that I will get this audit done … I will make sure that the audit takes place and accountability is fixed,” the Governor who ended is one month sojourn of Darjeeling said before taking a train to Kolkata. “Audits are done to find out if Governments funds are used properly for the people and being utilized for what they are meant for. It is done to see that there is no corruption. After 2017 the GRA has become a government department,” he said adding Darjeeling Hills were sitting on a powder keg and disturbance could start any time. “Disturbance is waiting to happen in Hills as people are dissatisfied,” he said.
GTA is presently being run by Benoy Tamang the rebel group leader of the GJM which was originally led by Bimal Gurung before he was removed from the post following a tiff with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Subsequently he went underground with a number of charges following him. Between 2017 and 2020 he remained a BJP supporter but he reappeared after three years last month, broke ties with the saffron outfit and reiterated his support for Trinamool Congress.
Even as the political circles linked Governor’s demand for audit of GTA finances to Gurung’s quitting the BJP fold and to force him once again to join the saffron brigade TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar demanded Dhankhar’s removal saying “he should have conducted himself like a head of the family but he is behaving like a BJP agent which is why we want his removal from the post.”