Mamata Banerjee invites Binay Tamang for talks

 Chief minister in a bid to balance Morcha factions: Hill observers

Supporters of the Binay Tamang faction of the Morcha at a rally in Kurseong on Saturday. Passang Yolmo

Vivek Chhetri   |   TT   |   Darjeeling   |   01.11.20  :  Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has invited Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa for talks in Calcutta on November 3 amid murmurs that she has convened the meeting to ensure a truce between the two factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

The Binay-Anit camp of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has been an ally of the Trinamul since September 2017 while Bimal Gurung faction announced their decision to dump the BJP-led NDA and back Trinamul on October 21.

Well-placed sources said that the meeting between Mamata and the Binay-Anit duo would be held at Nabanna at 3pm on November 3.

This is the first meeting between Mamata Banerjee and Binay-Anit camp after Gurung’s decision.

“The outcome of the meeting would determine the new political landscape in the hills following Bimal Gurung’s dramatic decision to join hands with Mamata,” said a source.

Discussions are on in the hills that Mamata might try to balance both the Binay-Anit and Bimal factions as both are now Trinamul allies.

But settling the dispute among the two factions is possibly easier said than done as leaders of Binay-Anit camp have stated that they would neither share space with Bimal nor “crumble under any pressure or forces in this regard”.

Against this charged political background in the hills, Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar’s first visit to Darjeeling starts from Sunday. In Malda on Saturday, asked on separate Gorkhaland state issue, he dodged a direct reply and said he would “try to understand the issue during my visit”.

The Binay camp started holding rallies in Darjeeling hills to show their strength after Bimal’s supporters started doing so in the past week or so. One narrative that the Binay camp is spelling out is the possibility of law and order deteriorating in the hills if Bimal is allowed to return.

The Binay camp on Saturday held rallies in Kurseong and Mirik. They had earlier held rallies in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sonada.

Bimal’s supporters are mobilising people for “a grand welcome” and also intend to hold a rally in Kurseong on November 8. Many of Bimal’s supporters are trying to convince their supporters that their leader’s decision to join hands with Trinamul was also for the sake of the “5,000 cadres who are on the run (because of cases slapped against them during the 2017 Gorkhaland agitation)”.

Alok Kanth Mani Thulung, president, Darjeeling sub-division committee of the Binay camp, however, challenged this figure. “They are adept at lying. We have found out that only 52 people are on the run. Well, we can accept the figure to be 100 or 200 at the most but we challenge them to provide data of 5,000 cadres on the run.

Keshav Raj Pokhrel, spokesperson of the Morcha (Binay camp), has categorically stated that they would not share any platform with Bimal Gurung.

“We would like to assure the public that we shall never share any platform with Bimal Gurung as we have already rejected his leadership. We shall not crumble to any pressure or forces in this regard,” said Pokhrel. The use of word “pressure or forces” is being interpreted as being directed at Trinamul.

Pokhrel’s statement is important as it suggests Mamata has her hands full. “But, one has to note that Mamata Banerjee has the upper hand with regard to these two factions,” said another observer.

Discussions are also in hill political circles on the possibility of Bimal Gurung being asked to operate from Nepali-dominated areas in the Dooars. The Bimal Gurung camp, however, is not keen on such an arrangement and wants to return to the hills.

Governor Dhankhar, whose spats with the Mamata government are frequent, added in Malda: “The issues which are there in north Bengal will be surely addressed in due course. People never thought that Article 370 will be abrogated. But it has happened now. Indian Constitution allows solutions to every problem...I will try to understand the issue during my visit by interacting with people.”

Additional inputs from Soumya De Sarkar in Malda

(Courtesy & source: The Telegrapg- https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/mamata-banerjee-invites-binay-tamang-for-talks/cid/1796159)