Centre’s tripartite talks on Hills in jeopardy

The GNLF, which is an ally of the BJP, has been left red-faced by the faux pax, but said a decision would be taken by the central leadership on Wednesday.

Deep Gazmer | TNN | Oct 7, 2020 | Darjeeling: The tripartite meeting convened by the Centre on Wednesday is in jeopardy with the state government taking a muted stance and stakeholders in the Darjeeling Hills unwilling to participate amid the confusion. 

The Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM) have distanced themselves from the October 7 talks in Delhi while the Bimal Gurung faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) remained non-committal following a corrigendum issued by the Centre on the agenda. 

On October 3, the Union government had announced the tripartite meeting to discuss “Gorkhaland”, and invited the GTA principal secretary and the Darjeeling district magistrate for the same. However, on Monday (October 5), it did a U-turn and said the meeting would focus only on GTA. 

The CPRM said the “true nature” of the BJP government had been exposed. “This is simply a ploy to confuse and hoodwink the people of the Hills,” said party spokesperson Govind Chhetri . 

The GNLF, which is an ally of the BJP, has been left red-faced by the faux pax, but said a decision would be taken by the central leadership on Wednesday. The Gurung faction of the GJM, whose political fate hinges on the BJP, refused to comment on the development. 

The Binoy Tamang faction of the GJM, however, said they stood vindicated. “We have all along said the BJP cannot be trusted. The leadership is using people of the Hills as mere vote bank. Now, there’s proof. We urge all BJP allies to consider their stand,” said Keshavraj Pokhrel, spokesperson for the Tamang faction.

(Courtesy & source- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/centres-tripartite-talks-on-hills-in-jeopardy/articleshow/78524551.cms)