All eyes on TMC’s first public meet at Chowrasta....Biman welcomes GJMM’s gesture of open dialogue with state govt

SNS, Darjeeling, 23 October: All eyes in the Hills are set on tomorrow’s Trinamul Congress' first political event to be held at Chowrasta in Darjeeling with chief Minister Miss Mamata Banerjee and other state leaders who have arrived there today. 

Tight security had been arranged at various places where the chief minister had halted on her way to Darjeeling from Kurseong. It was learnt that she halted for a few minutes at Dali monastery. In various important spots, cadres floated party flags to welcome the chief. 

At Darjeeling Railway Station, she halted for a few minutes where the supporters of the Hills' unit of the party were seen gathered with garlands to welcome the chief. She then headed towards Rihmond Hill. 

The senior leaders of the Hills' unit of the Trinamul Congress said that they may meet Miss Banerjee and other leaders. Meanwhile, all eyes are set on tomorrow's event at Chowrasta where the party will hold its first convention in Darjeeling. 

SNS, Siliguri, 23 October The Left Front chairman, Mr Biman Bose, today welcomed the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM)’s gesture to open dialogue with the state government to resolve the ragging Darjeeling Hill crisis. 

“It is a good development. My party welcomes it whole-heartedly. Our stance is clear ~ the Hill-based party should go for dialogue, either bipartite or tripartite, to resolve issues leading to the stalemate. It is a futile exercise on the part of the GJMM to continue with the movement for Gorkhaland. The people suffer and development gets stuck because of the stir for statehood. This is bad for the long-term interests for the Hills,” he said before attending the Darjeeling district CPI-M secretariat meeting in Siliguri this evening. 

Asked about the uncertainty hovering the tripartite meeting over the Hill tangle, the CPI-M leader said the GJMM should refrain from the movement to make grounds for fruitful dialogue. 

He further said his party would hold a public meeting in Darjeeling in the coming days ~.a stance that might ring sweet in the Trinamul Congress’s ears as it would lend credence to the ruling party’s claim that it has made the ground situation congenial for democratic engagement involving the parties operating in the Hills other than the GJMM.