'Obstacles' on way, Morcha to do puja - Gorkhaland on lips, party chooses holy way

Bimal Gurung (in white kurta) during a puja on the Ganga in Varanasi on December 14

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 22: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha will conduct several pujas over three days starting December 26 for "world peace and Gorkhaland", one of its senior leaders said today.

The list of the pujas is long, but the Morcha had a short reply to give when asked why the party felt the need to appease the gods now.

"This is being done for world peace and Gorkhaland," said Binay Tamang, the assistant secretary of the Morcha

Earlier, when Metro had asked Bimal Gurung, the Morcha chief, about his recent round of pilgrimage and puja - he had been to Varanasi, Kalighat in Calcutta and the Kamakhya temple in Assam earlier this month - he had said: "We have consistently faced a lot of obstacles. This is why we are offering pujas."

Morcha sources today spoke about a hermit Gurung had met, on whose advice the Morcha leader decided to conduct the pujas.

A source in the Morcha said: "A learned priest, Jagat Guru Baba from Varanasi, had met Bimal Gurung sometime back and it is being said that the guru advised Gurung to conduct these pujas for good dividends for the party and also for the demand of Gorkhaland."

What obstacles had come in his way, the Morcha chief did not specify when he spoke toMetro earlier but it is known that there has been a strain in relations with chief minister Mamata Banerjee since the Morcha decided to support BJP candidate S.S. Ahluwalia in the Lok Sabha poll for the Darjeeling seat, ignoring Trinamul candidate Bhaichung Bhutia.

Ahluwalia won the Darjeeling seat.

The chief minister also reportedly told Gurung on December 1 - the day the Morcha chief visited Kalighat - at Nabanna that the GTA's accounts would be audited by the CAG.

Gurung heads the GTA, too.

Morcha leaders in the hills said later that no one had a problem with any audit being conducted.

Gurung, who has seen many a hiccup in his relations with the state government, went out of his way on December 7 to explain why he had visited Mamata at Nabanna on December 1.

He had "nothing to fight about" with the chief minister, he said in Darjeeling as now the movement would be conducted in Delhi.

The Morcha has recently been in a spot of bother over another matter - one of it's leaders, now suspended, is wanted in an arms haul case.

According to police sources, GTA member Sanjay Thulung, who is untraceable, has been named by two men who were arrested with the arms in Assam.

The Morcha, which was tight-lipped after Thulung's house was raided, suspended him earlier this month.

The three-day puja will see 34 pandits from Varanasi come to Darjeeling. They will conduct pujas from 6am till midnight in the presence of 117 kumaris (girl children).

"The party will be conducting Maha Bindyabasini, Maha Puniya, 108 kumari pujas, Vishnu Mahayog and Ved Mantra at the Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan in Darjeeling. On December 26, the puja will be conducted at Patlabas party office and nine kumaris will be present there. The next two-day puja will be held at Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan," Tamang said.

"The puja at Gorkha Rangamanch is open to the public. We would request people to come without eating egg, meat or alcohol," Tamang added.