Mamata tells hill people to unseat GJM

Reiterating her stand opposing bifurcation of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at Kalimpong on Tuesday, 50 km from Darjeeling, that people of the hills should unseat leaders who make them suffer and prevent development.

“Autocracy is going on in the name of agitation. Darjeeling’s development is being stalled. They are asking people to remain indoors. It is as if the king is asking his people to stay inside. It cannot be tolerated,” she said, addressing a gathering of Lepchas, the second largest ethnic group in Darjeeling.

The chief minister, who is on a two-day visit to attend a Lepcha felicitation ceremony, took on the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) leadership and said: “You are free to go to Delhi. You are even free to go to Obama, if you wish. But Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong are part of West Bengal and will remain so.”