Edwards Irked Over Exclusion of Opposition Sabhasads from Administrative Meeting, Writes to Mamata

EOI, Darjeeling, Nov 18, 2024 ; The Hamro Party president, Ajoy Edwards, has written a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressing his discontent over the exclusion of opposition Sabhasads from the administrative meeting of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) held on November 12 in Darjeeling.

During her two-day visit to the Darjeeling hills, the Chief Minister held an administrative meeting with the GTA chairman, Anit Thapa, and Sabhasads from the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) party. However, Sabhasads from opposition parties, including those from the Hamro Party, were not invited to the meeting.

In his letter to the Bengal CM on Monday, Edwards, who is also an elected Sabhasad, wrote: “During your recent visit, it came to our notice that the administrative meeting involved only the GTA chairman and Sabhasads of the BGPM, excluding the opposition Sabhasads. Such a one-sided representation, I believe, limits the scope of discussions and does not offer a holistic view of the challenges we face in the hills.”

Edwards raised key concerns in his letter, including the transfer of subjects to the GTA, which he emphasized required immediate intervention. "I am writing to you as an elected representative in the opposition bench of the GTA to bring forth certain critical issues impacting the GTA and the hills, which I believe deserve immediate attention and action. The GTA recently passed a resolution advocating full transfer of subjects to the council body. But we believe this was not discussed in your administrative meeting," said the Hamro Party president.

Edwards reiterated that without the full transfer of subjects, the GTA would not be able to serve the people effectively. "The formation of the GTA was intended to empower local bodies, fulfill the aspirations of our people, and enable development in the hills. Without the full transfer of agreed subjects, the GTA lacks the autonomy to effectively serve our people's needs," he stated.

Other "key concerns" raised by Edwards in the letter included land rights, labor rights in tea gardens, the issue of closed gardens, corruption in local bodies, tea-staff flash flood rehabilitation, deteriorating infrastructure like roads, lack of employment opportunities, and the disarray in healthcare and education.

"Given these failures, I believe it is time to reconsider the GTA as a model and initiate official discussions to explore alternative governance structures that would offer the highest form of autonomy to the hills, enabling sustainable and meaningful development," said Edwards.

The HP leader also pointed out that elections to the Mirik, Kurseong, and Kalimpong municipalities remain pending. In his letter, Edwards urged the Bengal CM to take proactive measures to ensure that these issues are addressed in a timely and effective manner.