Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday dumped the stick and dangled carrots for the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in an apparent bid to draw the hill outfit to her side ahead of the next year’s Assembly elections by announcing dropping of a number of cases against its leaders and workers.
Banerjee, whose hostile approach towards the GJM leadership, including its president Bimal Gurung, had pushed it towards the BJP on Tuesday, declared the withdrawal of at least 115 cases which were filed against its leaders before the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011.
“Only those cases would be withdrawn that were lodged between 2007 and 2011,” Banerjee told an audience in Darjeeling. “It has been found that many of such cases were politically motivated and had no basis so the Government has decided to withdraw the case,” sources quoting the Chief Minister said.
Officially, the GJM is an ally of the BJP and its supporters had voted for saffron candidate SS Ahluwaliah during the 2014 General Elections.
Apart from withdrawing the cases, Banerjee, who claimed to have visited Darjeeling at least 50 times since she became the Chief Minister, announced a fund of `500 crore under the Swachchh Bharat scheme to keep the Hill region clean. “Under the new scheme 50,000 toilets will be constructed throughout the Hills so that the people can use them and the atmosphere is kept clean” Banerjee said.
“The State Government and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration are working together for ‘Clean and Green Darjeeling’ project worth `500 crore. Bengal is now Number 1 in India in Swachchh Bharat campaign. Three out of the top four clean districts come from Bengal which is a matter of pride for the people of the State and also the Government,” she said. This apart, a separate campus of the Presidency University would come up in Darjeeling, Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister’s announcement comes ahead of next year’s Assembly elections which could be drawn forward by a couple of months.
The Government has also announced earlier that about 60,000 Class IV staff would be appointed in various Government offices and to facilitate the work the Government would constitute a board under a secretary. A final decision would be taken by the State Cabinet in the first week of September, sources said.
The decision to appoint Group D staffers through a designated board by-passing the Public Service Commission has been criticised by the Opposition which claim that the board would act as a tool in the hands of the Government to take in only Trinamool supports and “yes men.”
Going by the track record of this Government, the appointment procedure could also see crores of rupees changing hands before the elections, the Opposition left said, adding that the decision could invite a law suit.