GTA sabhasad from Terai likely to part ways with Morcha

EOI, Siliguri, 1 Apr 2016: Champa Bivar, member of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration from Sukna-Panighatta constituency, is likely to resign from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha as she said she is dissatisfied with the party for failing to develop Lohagarh and its surrounding areas.

The GTA sabhasad, who was close to GJM chief Bimal Gurung during the early days of the party, has also not refuted speculation that she was planning to join the Trinamool Congress.

GJM Terai president Tshering Dahal, including central committee members Santosh Rasaily, Brinda Pradhan and trade union leader Harihar Acharya today held an emergency meeting upon reading Bivar's statement published in a newspaper. But she could not be contacted and her cell phone was out of reach. Some party members then went to her home in Lohagarh where she told them she could quit the party.

GJM central committee member Brinda Pradhan said, "When we went to her residence, she was not so welcoming and said she may or may not join the Trinamool Congress. Her body language indicated that she has been strongly persuaded to leave us to join hands with the opposition.

On Thursday, Bivar had said she is disillusioned with the functioning of the GTA and that no development work had been executed in Lohagarh. 

Tshering Dahal said, "We are yet to receive her resignation and she hasn’t contacted us either. So I cannot comment anything right now."

Meanwhile, GJM trade union leader Harihar Acharya, who also hails from Lohagarh, said Bivar has not yet resigned from the party. If she had issues with the GTA and GJM leaders, she should have spoken to the party chief instead of making such allegations, he added.

In a related development, TMC leader from Panighatta, Kishore Pradhan, said hundreds of GJM supporters from Lohagarh are likely to join the TMC before the election.