Gurung's GTA barb at govt

Bireswar Banerjee, TT, Bagdogra, Sept. 15: Bimal Gurung today said the GTA was being run in the hills like a three-tier panchayat system and iterated his charge that the chief minister was indulging in "divide and rule" politics.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president, who headed for New Delhi on a two-day visit today, told journalists at the Bagdogra airport: "It has become a three-tier panchayat system in the hills. On one side, the state is forming boards (for different hill communities) one after another, while on the other side, the district magistrate is running the administration in his own way. Then, the GTA is also functioning in the hills. We are disappointed that many departments have not been transferred to the GTA and I want to iterate that the hill body cannot function in such manner."

The GTA chief executive continued with his verbal attack on Mamata Banerjee.

"Whenever she (chief minister) comes (to the hills), we welcome and honour her. She, however, keeps on playing divide and rule politics and goes on forming boards to create division among the hill population. Earlier, she had announced that she would turn Darjeeling into Switzerland. We want to know why such promises were made when the state failed to carry out any development works in hills," Gurung said.

"Till now, the chief minister has only formed these so-called boards for Tamangs, Lepchas and Sherpas. It seems she will form boards for everybody in the hills and will induct even domesticated animals into the boards."

Gurung said the resumption of the statehood movement was inevitable.

"...the manner in which the chief minister is disappointing and hurting us during her frequent visits to the hills has left us with no other option but to re-launch the movement for Gorkhaland," he said.

According to him, the agitation will begin after all three Morcha MLAs resign from the Assembly on September 18.

"We will devise a strategy and launch the movement. It will be a democratic movement which would be carried out both in Delhi and the hills. Gorkhas from different parts of India will join the movement. We can no longer run the GTA in this manner and want our demand for the separate state to be met," the Morcha president said.

Although Gurung went to Delhi to attend a programme to be organised by Buddhists, he said he would try to meet some Union ministers during the visit.

Asked whether he would also quit the post of the GTA chief, Gurung said: "If such circumstances develop in the future, we will definitely look into it."

Gurung is accompanied by Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma and three other Morcha leaders, sources said.