Gorkha body reminds TMC of unmet alliance promises, wants Darjeeling polls deferred

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has asked the West Bengal government to defer elections to the autonomous body Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) for governing Darjeeling hills. GJM that in the past had campaigned for the creation of a separate state, Gorkhaland, asked for the deferral till the “unexecuted” portion of the GTA agreement—a tripartite arrangement made in 2011—is implemented.

In October 2020, the GJM had joined hands with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), after parting company with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the hills.

The elections to the GTA are to be held in June, as decided by the West Bengal government.

GJM, in the “memorandum of the proposal” submitted to the state, highlighted the clauses of the agreement that were yet to be enforced and claimed that the “grant of autonomy to the Gorkhas of the region in the form of GTA has turned out to be nothing but a mere eyewash.”

It reminded the Trinamool-led government of the concessions promised at the time the organisation entered into a political and electoral alliance with the TMC – The “political solution” as promised by the BJP in its manifesto would be delivered by the state government, and all “criminal cases pending against the GJM cadres till that date would be withdrawn.”

The GJM stated that the withdrawal of criminal cases halted once the state Assembly elections were held. The Morcha has called for an “honourable political solution”. It has asked the government that till the “unexecuted portion of the Tripartite Agreement is implemented, no further elections for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration be held.”

Once that is accomplished, the GJM will present its “Proposal for Political Solution”.

An important point in the memorandum clarifies that the GJM distinguishes a ‘political solution’ from a ‘permanent political solution’.

“Any autonomous dispensation within the state of West Bengal (either with or without a Constitutional safeguard) would be a Political Solution and refrains from terming the same as PPS since the only Permanent Political Solution for permanently safeguarding the identity and interests of Indian Gorkhas would be none other than a separate state of Gorkhaland….”