Morcha lists 'false' projects - Hill party targets CM on district demand

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Oct. 11: The Gorkha Jannmukti Morcha today listed several projects that Mamata Banerjee had announced as railway minister and as chief minister for the hills but failed to start.

But Bimal Gurung's party said the people would forgive Mamata for the alleged false promises if she upgraded Kalimpong subdivision to a district and Mirik block to a subdivision.

Binay Tamang, the assistant secretary of the Morcha, reeled off 11 projects announced for the hills by Mamata as the railway minister and 18 projects as chief minister. He said none of the projects had been started.

"Chief minister Mamata Banerjee always announces lollipops for the hills just before the elections and to prove this, we are making public the list of unfulfilled projects announced by her. ... The formation of the Kalimpong district and the upgrade of Mirik block to a subdivision will not only bring administrative benefits to these places but also help in our demand for Gorkhaland. That is why we want the chief minister to take a decision before the 2016 Assembly election. In such an event, people from the hills will forgive her for all the unfulfilled announcements she has made for the region so far," Tamang told journalists.

Some of the allegedly unfulfilled announcements of Mamata as the railway minister include a Railway Recruitment Board Campus in Darjeeling, a nursing training college in Kurseong and a skill development centre in Kurseong and upgrade of Tindharia railway hospital to a super-speciality hospital.

A film city and software park in Kalimpong, golf course at Tiger Hill and setting up a Bhanu-Rabindra Nepali Academy at Mungpoo are among the promises which Mamata had made as chief minister but failed to keep.

Observers believe the Morcha was using Mamata's development plank to corner the chief minister and to take credit if she declares Kalimpong a district, especially before the Assembly elections. "If the chief minister does not announce the formation of Kalimpong district immediately, the Morcha can tell the people that Mamata only makes false promises," said an observer.

The other motive behind the Morcha's decision to link the Kalimpong district demand to Mamata's failure to keep the promises, observers say, is to score over MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri.

Ever since he quit the Morcha, Chhetri has been demanding vociferously that Kalimpong be declared a separate district.

The Morcha also welcomed the formation of the Kalimpong District Demand Committee and said it was willing to consider joining the panel if approached formally. The Kalimpong MLA is the chief co-ordinator of the committee.