TMC for Darjeeling polls after rains

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 13 Aug 2019, Darjeeling: Rajen Mukhia, the Trinamul Congress's observer for the hills, on Monday said he would want elections to Darjeeling municipality after the monsoon and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in 2020.

The Trinamul government had appointed an administrator to run the Darjeeling civic body recently after a majority of councillors had sought a noconfidence motion against the then chairperson of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's Binay Tamang camp. The councillors joined the BJP and are reportedly staying out of Darjeeling.

The GTA is being administered by a board of administra- tors appointed by the state since September 2017.

Asked about the Darjeeling municipality, Mukhia said: "There is an administrator now. Let there be elections (to the Darjeeling municipality) after the monsoon. There must be public representativesLocal self-governance does not have any public representatives in Darjeeling now. Both the municipality and the GTA are run by administrators.

Asked about the GTA elections, Mukhia said: "The situation is in doldrums, some leaders are on the run. We want elections to the GTA in 2020The Trinamul leader said the party was looking at strengthening its organisational base in the hills. "We will soon form booth-level committees. Depending on our party strength, we will decide whether to fight the GTA elections alone or forge an alliance. We are confident that the hill people will like Trinamul," said Mukhia.

The Trinamul leader stressed the need for "transparency in the GTA". "There should be transparency. They (GTA board of administrators) have been kept to solve public grievances...some roads do not last even for three months after repairs, engineers should also do their jobs well, no one should run after commission," said Mukhia.

He held a meeting with Trinamul members on Monday to hear their grievance as "directed by Calcutta"..