Rajnath meet on hills issues on December 7 in Calcutta

Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, TT, 05 Dec-2017,New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh is expected to hold talks with Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the Darjeeling issue on December 7 in Calcutta.

The home minister will request Mamata to agree to tripartite talks involving the state, the Centre and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, sources in the Union ministry said.

The home minister will also urge Mamata to expedite the revival of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), whose five-year tenure expired in July this year, before the Centre can convene a tripartite meeting with the consent of the state government.

"Both share a good rapport and the home minister is looking forward to the meeting,". He wants to reach out to her personally and discuss all the issues concerning the hills," said a ministry official.

Singh will hold the dialogue with Mamata after chairing a meeting on the Rohingya issue with the chief ministers of the five states that border Bangladesh.

Sources said Rajnath had earlier planned to speak to Mamata but the war of words between the Centre and the state government over the withdrawal of central forces from Darjeeling came in the way.

A hurdle before the tripartite talks in uncertainty which faction - Binay Tamang's or Bimal Gurung's - will represent the Morcha. The state government is against any role for Gurung.