Bista urges Governor to help stop GTA elections

SNS, SILIGURI, 29 May 2022 : As West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar arrived in his office in Darjeeling today, Darjeeling's MP Raju Bista, (BJP) leader at the national level, led a delegation of some political parties to inform him of "the role of the state government" led by the Trinamool Congress.

'We informed the Governor that the Gorkhaland Teritorial Administration (GTA) has been categorically rejected by the people from our region, as it has completely failed to fulfill the aspirations of the people. Despite the people's opposition to this body, the West Bengal government ran the GTA without holding any elections to it for the past five years," Mr Bista said, adding, "As the Union Ministry of Home Affairs initiated tripartite talks involving the central, the state governments and the Gorkha representatives to find a Permanent Political Solution for the region in lieu of GTA, the state government announced elections to GTA, in order to derail the tripartite talks," he added. Mr Bista also pointed out to the "advisory against holding GTA elections" issued by the Calcutta High Court till a writ petition challenging the legality/vires of the GTA was determined by the Court.

The MP added he requested the Governor to intervene "to put a stop to this farce of an election that the WB Govt is forcefully seeking to impose in the region."

The delegation comprised of Minority Affairs John Barla, Darjecling MLA Neeraj Zimba, Kurseong MLA BP Bajgain, Former MLA NB Chettri of the GNLF, RB Rai and Arun Ghatani of the CPRM, Dawa Pakhrin of GoRaNiMo, Pratap Khati of ABGL, Dr Kalyan Dewan of the BJP and Udai Kumar Rai of SuMuMo, along with other leaders.

On the other hand, the Darjeeling MP visited Gorkha leader Bimal Gurung, who was on a hunger strike for the past five days.

"We thanked Bimal Gurung for his efforts, which have been successful in uniting our people. We are happy to note that Gurung has been taken to the hospital, and we are most hopeful that he will call off his hunger strike, following our call for unity," Mr Bista said.