GNLF to campaign for Sixth Schedule tag

Mann Ghisingh

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 22: The GNLF today said its president Mann Ghisingh would visit every nook and corner of the hills from December 26 as part of a campaign to mobilise support for the inclusion of the region in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

The GNLF has also announced that the party will hold street corner meetings at places that Ghisingh will visit.

The announcement comes soon after Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung suspended his padayatra purportedly at the request of Prime Minister.

Mahendra Chhetri, the general secretary of the GNLF, today said: "Our president will start a campaign from Kurseong subdivision on December 26. To be more precise, he will be first touring the Mirik-Soureni-Panighatta-Sukna area and then come up to Tindharia-Sonada-Rangbull. The campaign will be to seek people's support for the hills to be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution."

He added: "Street corner meetings will also be held at various places across the hills. Once the Kurseong leg is completed, similar visits will be made to various DGHC constituencies in Kalimpong and Darjeeling as well."

The GNLF plans to complete the campaign in one month. "At the January-end, a public meeting will also be held in Darjeeling," said Chhetri.

Observers say the GNLF, whose 21-year-old rule in the hills was replaced by the Morcha in 2007, now believes Gurung's party is losing popular support.

"The objective of the campaign is to go to the people and tell them about the benefits of the Sixth Schedule status, which has legislative powers, unlike the GTA. Under the Sixth Schedule, there will be a constitutionally recognised body," said Chhetri.

Asked about the campaign, Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha, said: "The people of the hills have already rejected the Sixth Schedule status demand."