Didi's parting shot: Stay in peace, stay united

MANAS R BANNERJEE | SNS  |  SILIGURI  |  14 JULY 2022: Wrapping up her four-day visit to Darjeeling, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she wanted peace and unity, "despite regional divisions" in the state.

"I have come down  from Darjeeling after congratulating Anit Thapa. We want both the Hills and the Plains to stay well and peaceful," Miss Banerjee said at the Bagdogra Airport, before flying back to Kolkata.

Asked by reporters to comment on North Bengal, she said: "North Bengal, South Bengal and West Bengal all are equal to me Ake want all to stay well and in peace."

Notably, Abhishek Banerjee, the General Secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress, during his visit to Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri on 12 July, had expressed reservations on the people's sentiment in this region, and had urged them not to brand this region as North Bengal.

According to political observers, Mr Banerjee was politically serious about the sentiments of the people of North Bengal, at a tine when BJP leaders are allegedly inciting people in demanding a separate state of North Bengal.

Mr Banerjee also claimed that a separate state is a distant dream until Mamata Banerjee is a CM in West Bengal.

Notably, Miss Banerjee arrived in Darjeeling on 11 July to witness the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected Sabhasads of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) on 12 July. She also attended the Bhanu Jayanti programme at Chowrasta in Darjeeling yesterday.

Significantly, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar also arrived in Darjeeling yesterday, where he met Miss Banerjee in his office. The Governor today administered the oath of office to the new Chief Executive of the GTA, Anit Thapa.

"Miss Banerjee was in search of a leader to keep control over the Hills politically, after Bimal Gurung and then Binoy Tamang," an observer said.

"Though Anit Thapa has been elected democratically as the chief of the GTA, there is a question on how Miss Banerjee will manage the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 elections, when a large section of the people in the Hills has been demanding a permanent political solution for the identity crisis faced by the Gorkhas in India," the observer added.

"Although Mamata Banerjee has maintained good public relations by applying her own style in the last four days of the her stay in Darjeeling, there is a question on how she would take on the "dhandabai, as she mentioned in her speech, who may disturb peace in the Hills in the coming days," another political observer said.