JOIN USThe recent elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) might seem farcical with all the 45 seats going to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), led by Bimal Gurung.
Other parties, especially the Trinamool Congress and the CPM, had withdrawn from the contest mainly because of the stranglehold that the GJM is known to have in the territory. Some seats saw nominal contests because the Trinamool candidates were late in officially quitting the contest. The circumstances of the election therefore ensured peaceful polling in an area known for violence and a high voter turnout which was the result of a call by the GJM leadership to the cadres and supporters to ensure that its candidates won with sizeable popular support. A low turnout would have posed more questions about the credibility of the elections.
Even with its lopsidedness, the new administration that comes into being may be considered to be an improvement in representative governance. It is a successor to the Gorkhaland Hill Council, dominated by Subhas Ghising, for which the last election was held in 1999. A tripartite agreement between the GJM, the Trinamool Congress government of West Bengal and the Centre provided for the formation of the autonomous and self-governing GTA through direct elections.
It has more administrative powers than the erstwhile GHC. The formation of autonomous territorial administrations have been considered as answers to statehood demands. The GJM has not given up the statehood demand and has only tactically refrained from pressing it. It also wants the inclusion of large areas of the Doors and the Terai regions in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts within the jurisdiction of the GTA. This is being resisted by the people of these areas and all political parties in the state. The GJM is yet to drop the demand.
Bimal Gurung has promised to leave the politics of agitation behind and concentrate on the development of the region. Strikes, hartals, shutdowns and violence, for much of which GJM was responsible, have hit the economy and the normal lives of people in the hills for the past many years. Tourism has to be revived. The state of the tea industry and health, educational and infrastructural facilities have to be improved. All this will be possible only if Gurung lives up to his promise. There should also be no further appeasement of the GJM by the Central and state governments.