Morcha might reject GTA, says Gurung - Party to raise state interference issue in Delhi

Rajeev Ravidas and Vivek Chhetri, TT, Kalimpong, Nov. 24: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today said if the state government continued to interfere in the functioning of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, his party might "reject" the hill body .

The GTA chief executive, who was in Kalimpong subdivision as part of his Gorkhaland Janjagaran Padyatra, also said he would raise the issue of state interference when he meets Union home minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi.

Gurung is scheduled to leave for Delhi tomorrow.

"There is interference from the state government and if this continuous, we might even reject the GTA in future. I will also raise this interference issue during my meeting with the Union home minister," Gurung said without mentioning the date of the meeting.

According to rules, the Morcha-run GTA can be dissolved only by the Assembly and Gurung's rejection would only mean non-participation of the Morcha in running the hill body. In case such a situation arises, the state government can appoint an administrator to run the hill body.

But if Gurung starts an agitation in the hills, it would dent Mamata Banerjee's claim of having succeeded in bringing about peace in the region.

A seven-member Morcha delegation led by Gurung is scheduled to leave for Delhi tomorrow. It is likely to return on November 29. Earlier, Gurung had said he would leave for Delhi on Tuesday. The trip was later postponed.

Apart from Gurung, Swaraj Thapa, P.T. Ola, Norbu G. Lama, Bijay Sundas, Ram Bahadur Bhujel and Moti Prasad Sharma would be in the delegation that will raise the party's demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland during the meeting with Rajnath Singh.

"The team is expected to meet the Union home minister either on November 26 or 27. Our party president is going to Delhi at the invitation of Rajnath Singh," said a Morcha source.

Singh had called up Gurung on November 3 and requested him to end his padayatra and visit Delhi after Diwali for talks. Gurung started the padayatra on October 2 and sources said he had clocked close to 1,000km. He is presently at Rongo close to the Bhutan border.

Gurung had said he would resume the march after his return from Delhi. "Apart from the home minister, we will also meet other central leaders. We will meet RSS leaders in Delhi as we believe they, too, are sympathetic towards our cause," he said today.

Earlier this year, some RSS leaders had visited Darjeeling at the invitation of Morcha leadership.

A Morcha source said Gurung would also raise other issues during the meeting with Singh. "Topping the list will be the demand for Gorkhaland. He will also raise the issue of granting a Scheduled Tribe status to 10 Gorkha communities and seek permission to extend his padayatra all the way to Delhi," he said.

Party sources said the state government had not granted permission to start the Delhi march.