Morcha to meet in Dec for political planning

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 28 Nov 2018, Darjeeling: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha decided to hold a two-day Chintan (introspection) Sabha in December to chart out its roadmap on political activities at a central committee meeting held here on Tuesday.

Suraj Sharma, the party's spokesperson, said: "We have decided to hold a Chintan Sabha in December end. The dates are yet to be finalised. We will chart our roadmap on political activities during this meeting." Sources said a five member committee has been constituted to finalise the date and venue of the meeting.

The party has also decided to start a movement to demand bifurcation of eight hill blocks into 12, the sources added.

Saman Pathak, CPM leader and former Darjeeling MP, said : "On December 8, we will hold a meeting and decide on ways to support the two day all India general strike called by various trade unions in January. We support the issue on which the strike has been called but we will have to discuss whether a strike can be called in the hills after last year's 104-day shutdown." Meanwhile, Joint Forum -- a conglomeration of tea trade unions except that of TMC and Morcha -- has decided to submit a memorandum to the labour department on December 3, highlighting various problems faced by tea garden workers..