Gurung camp roots for Hill rural polls- demands three-tier panchayat elections

SNS, SILIGURI, 9 JULY 21 : Although West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar recently pointed out that no elections were held for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in the Hills for the past many days, a delegation of Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (Bimal Gurung faction) today met the state Panchayat and Rural Development Minister, Subrata Mukherjee, and demanded three-tier panchayat polls in the interest of the people in rural areas in the Hills.

Significantly, the Morcha faction team, under the leadership of Roshan Giri, has once again renewed the demand for the three-tier polls in the Hills, which are mentioned in the tripartite CTA pact signed after the Trinamul Congress came to power in 2011.

It may be mentioned here that the West Bengal State Election Commission conducted two-tier rural elections after the West Bengal government set up the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) during the tenure of Suhash Ghisingh. As Ghisingh started demanding a special constitutional status for the DGHC under the Sixth Schedule and gave no importance to the two-tier elections in the rural belt under DGHC, the West Bengal government, during the tenure of the CPIM-led Left Front, failed to conduct such rural elections in the DGHC areas. Since then, the Hill people do not have elected members in gram panchayats and panchayat samitis.

In a press release, Morcha leader Mr Giri said today: "The delegation, during the meeting with Panchayat Minister Mr Mukherjee, demanded three-tier panchayat elections in the Hills as per the West Bengal government's Panchayat Act. It should be recalled that since 1995, when the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was in existence, the people of the Hills have been deprived of the facilities and facilities available under the Panchayat system."

"Since then, three-tier panchayat elections could not be held in the Hills. In view of this, GJMM has stated in its agreement with the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in 2011 that there should be three-tier panchayat elections in the Hills. Even today the GJMM is of the view that three-tier panchayat elections should be held in the Hills so that the poor people can get the benefits and facilities front the Panchayat system," Mr Giri added. "Minister Mukherjee has told us he would take up the matter with CM Mamata Banerjee," he further said.

On the other hand, political observers, including former state urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya, say that legally and constitutionally, the state cannot conduct such three-tier Panchayat elections under the GTA.

Notably, the BJP, which now controls a majority of the Hills, in association with the Gorkha National Liberation From and other political parties, is still pleading for a Permanent Political Solution (PPS). Though GJM leader Bimal Gurung has severed ties with the BJP, he still speaks for a PPS and believes that Mamata Banerjee can do it.