Morcha poll meeting

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Feb. 25: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today held a meeting with its representatives to seek a feedback on the party’s strengths and to work out ways to strengthen its hold in the hills ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Jyoti Kumar Rai, the assistant general secretary of the Morcha, said: “This was an internal meeting of the party. We sought reports from our representatives of different GTA constituencies on our party’s functioning. We also discussed the progress of development works being undertaken by the GTA.”

The Morcha leader said there were no discussions regarding the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “We did not discuss the election issue.”

Sources in the Morcha, however, said that the party’s strength across the hills were analysed. “According to the party’s analysis, nearly one lakh voters have voted against the party both in the last Assembly elections and these are the same people who are coming out as supporters of parties like the GNLF and Trinmaul,” said a source.

A source said that during today’s meeting, it was decided that the powers of the GTA Sabha members would be decentralised to ensure that all party leaders have a say in developing the areas.

Rai, also said that party president Bimal Gurung had decided to hold regular meeting with local unit leaders from now onwards.