Mamata Banerjee briefs Rajnath Singh on security situation in Darjeeling

Bharti Jain| TNN | Jul 25, 2017, NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the prevailing situation in Darjeeling, with the latter urging her to restore normalcy there at the earliest citing its proximity to Doklam, the current Indo-China border flashpoint.

"Given that Darjeeling is strategically located and lies not too far from the Doklam area, care should be taken to see that the unrest there does not linger. The state should take the lead and initiate concrete steps to bring back normalcy to the hill areas of West Bengal," a source said elaborating on Singh's advice to Mamata during their hour-long meeting here.

Banerjee on her part apprised Singh about the steps already taken by her government to contain the law and order crisis in the hill areas arising out of the ongoing stir, an official privy to the meeting said.

The home minister assured Banerjee of full support from the Centre as the state tries to normalise the situation in Darjeeling. "The core issues can be resolved through negotiations once the law and order situation is under control," he is said to have conveyed to the chief minister.

Darjeeling has been witnessing indefinite strike called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), demanding the separate state of Gorkhaland, since June 12.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Union minister of state for home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said there was no proposal to constitute a committee to look into the separate state demand of the Gorkhas and others agitating in Darjeeling.