Mamata-GJM showdown on cards

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, September 24

Not satisfied with the explanation given by the West Bengal Government to back up Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s claim of providing Rs 4,000 crore to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) has decided to stick to its call for observing bandh in GTA area on September 28.

“The bandh is on,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, which controls GTA, said. “The state government has only given Rs 238 crore over a period of four years for development works in GTA areas. The remaining money has come from the Centre,” Giri said.

Banerjee told at an event at Kalimpong yesterday that despite getting funding of about Rs 4,000 crore, the ruling dispensation at the GTA had done nothing for developing areas falling under GTA.

This was Banerjee’s second visit to the hills since July. In pursuance of her policy of weakening the GJM, she once again managed to get some GJM members to change their political affiliation and join the Trinamool Congress (TMC). GJM central committee member Dipen Tamang, accompanied by a large number of his supporters, today joined the TMC at Kalimpong in the presence of West Bengal minister Aroop Biswas.

“Those who have joined the Trinamool today meant nothing to us. They are absolutely nobody”, Roshan Giri remarked.

Commenting on the constitution of a series of boards in the hills with the ostensible objective of fast pace development of different communities, Giri said Banerjee was “trying her best to create divisions within the Gorkha community”.

Mamata, during her recent trip to the hills, announced setting up of four more boards – one each for four different communities. This will take the total number of state funded-boards set up by the Mamata Banerjee-led government for different communities (like the Lepchas, Bhutias, Sherpas, Tamangs, Limbus, etc) in the hills to 14. The strategy is widely believed to be helping her expand her support base in the hills.

The Chief Minister has appealed to people to ignore the GTA bandh call on Wednesday given by the GJM.

Roshan Giri, however, claimed that all communities in the hills would spontaneously respond to the Bandh call, thereby giving a befitting reply to the state government’s “divide and rule policy” in the hills.