Ghisingh working on ‘further plans’

SNS, Kurseong, 18 April 2014: Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) supremo Subash Ghisingh will announce his further strategy in connection with the party’s demand for the reinstatement of the erstwhile Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) and inclusion of the Darjeeling Hills in the Sixth Schedule, party leaders said today.

According to a close aide to Mr Ghisingh, the former Darjeeling strongman will soon announce the party’s programmes in this regard. Commenting on Mr Ghisingh’s failure to cast his vote in Darjeeling yesterday, the aide said the 78-year-old leader was “busy studying books.”

“He may not have gone to the extent of casting his vote as he may have thought that he has already thrown the entire party’s weight on the Trinamul Congress candidate for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, Bhaichung Bhutia,” the leader added.

“However, the truth behind the entire issue will be revealed only by him (Ghisingh) after a few days,” the aide said.

According to him, the GNLF chief has already announced that he would chalk out further plans after the Lok Sabha polls, and that the party leaders plan to meet the state and central government leadership on the demands.

GNLF sources said there isn’t any major reason behind Mr Ghisingh not casting his vote.

They claimed that Mr Ghisingh was actually not well due to old age. Mr Ghisingh’s move to personally stay away from the polls had fuelled speculations in the Hills and the plains alike.

The GJMM leadership termed the matter as a ‘betrayal’ and alleged that Mr Ghisingh first called on his supporters to vote for Mr Bhutia and later, when he came to know that Mr Bhutia would not fare well, he refrained himself from voting. On the other hand, political observers said that Mr Ghisingh’s move to not cast his vote could be a sign of his “souring relations” with Trinamul supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee.