Interim set-up in Darjeeling delayed

Mamata Banerjee, railway minister, who aspires to be West Bengal’s chief minister in near future, on a recent visit to Darjeeling, declined to support the demand for a separate state comprising the three hill subdivisions and parts of the plains in North Bengal.

At a recent meeting with Union home minister P Chidambaram and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Mamata reportedly concurred with Pranabda that there was no need to hurry with the creation of a separate state. While the Congress has been opposed to creation of Gorkhaland for a long time, it was for the first time that the Trinamool Congress has adopted an official stand in this regard.

What is more interesting is the fact that during a meeting of the cabinet committee on security affairs, both Mamata and Pranab Mukherjee had reportedly advised Chidambaram to go slow on the constitution of even an interim set up in the hills. While Chidambaram was in its favour, the two ministers from Bengal opposed it on the plea that the Assembly elections were due in another couple of months and that the new government would need to take a fresh look at it.

Tripartite meeting

Asked about the party’s stand on an interim set-up, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri sidestepped the query saying that he was not keen to react on the issue of a delayed set up. Although the Centre has invited the GJM representatives for talks in New Delhi, there was an invitation extended to the Buddhadev Bhattacherjee government as well for the tripartite meeting.

The GJM which is keen on an interim set-up and has already announced a stir to press for Gorkhaland, will find itself in a spot if the Centre decides to delay the set-up further by at least three months. The GJM which wants to read the mind of the Centre in this regard is hard-pressed looking for a clear direction from the UPA government.

Meanwhile, the party has taken a strong umbrage over the reported remark of TRS (Telengana Rashtra Samiti) chief K Chandrashekhar Rao regarding demand for a separate state in West Bengal.

“We have not opposed a separate Telengana state as we understand the aspirations of the people there. But it’s a matter of deep regret that Chandrashekhar Rao has chosen to belittle our aspirations,” Giri said. He was on his way to New Delhi for a meeting with Union home minister P Chidambaram.

The TRS chief who had gone on record saying he was against Gorkhaland, maintained that one could not ask for a separate state close to an international border at a time when the country had been faced with insurgency in the Northeast and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

The demand for Telengana includes 10 districts out of the existing 23 in Andhra Pradesh whereas Gorkhaland comprises only a single district of West Bengal. This apart, people in the plains have been divided over a separate hill state, Rao argued.

Stating that this sort of statements were unwarranted, Giri said that Rao should concentrate on Telengana, instead of “poking his nose in the hill affairs”. “Ours is the oldest demand for a separate state in India and the same was initiated as early as in 1907,” Giri claimed.

Interestingly, the Srikrishna Committee report on Telengana seems to have more impact on the affairs of Darjeeling than in the proposed area of Telengana itself. The Delhi-bound GJM delegation is likely to have elaborate talks with Chidambaram over constitution of an interim council to manage the three hill sub-divisions till a suitable alternative is found.

“We expect that the Centre treats both the demands on an equal footing,” Giri said. The GJM has already announced a 27-day bundh in phases to press ahead with its programme of agitation for a separate state.