Team Mamata to skip hills in fest

TT, Siliguri, 4 January 2018: The hill segment of Uttarbanga Utsav will be held in Darjeeling and Kalimpong on January 12 and 13, but neither chief minister Mamata Banerjee nor her ministers will attend.

In the plains, Mamata will inaugurate the annual cultural extravaganza hosted by the state government across north Bengal, felicitating students and eminent persons.

On Thursday, state tourism minister Gautam Deb held a meeting and announced that the hill chapter of the fest would be held in an elaborate manner.

He avoided a direct reply when asked whether any minister will visit the hills. "The chief minister will inaugurate the seventh edition of Uttarbanga Utsav at Kanchanjunga Stadium here (Siliguri) next Monday. The fest will be held in all eight districts of the region, including Darjeeling and Kalimpong," said Deb. The festival will continue till January 15.

For the hill edition, Deb said he has held a meeting with representatives of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma.

"The festival will be held in Darjeeling and Kalimpong for two days in association with the GTA. Local artistes from different communities will perform during these two days. All 15 development boards (formed) in the hills have been asked to arrange for such groups," said an official.

The decision to involve the GTA and the development boards and keeping state ministers away, is significant, observers said.

"The state probably wants to send a message that it would not intervene in every event being held in hills. Earlier, only some state officials remained present at the tourism fest hosted by the GTA (last month). Now, even though arrangements will be made by the state for two-day fest, the onus is on the GTA and the development boards to finalise programmes," said an observer.