The Morcha leaders, who addressed the crowd from the same venue where the Trinamul event was held yesterday, tried to dismiss the switch saying that the departure of a few Gorkha workers would not affect the party or the Gorkhaland movement much.
TT, Siliguri, June 12: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today sent two of its MLAs to Panighata to give a boost to its supporters, a day after some middle-ranking party leaders switched to Trinamul.
“It would hardly matter if only 200 Gorkhas, who have their own interests, join any other party from the total Gorkha population of 7 lakh in the region,” Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri said at the meeting in Panighata this afternoon. “We are least bothered about such departures as these people were either not related to our party or were expelled from the Morcha.”
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| Morcha supporters at Panighata on Monday. Pic by Kundan Yolmo |
“The GNLF leaders who joined Trinamul have a record of switching parties to serve their interests. If Trinamul leaders can retain them, it is fine,” he added.
Around 1,500 people, most of them disgruntled Morcha and GNLF supporters, joined Trinamul yesterday. Four former GNLF councillors were among those who switched loyalty.
The meeting, which started around 2pm and continued till 5.30 in the evening, witnessed the presence of 500-odd supporters. While most of them were local people, some reached Panighata from Mirik and some areas of Kalimpong in vehicles.
The Morcha leaders explained the party’s stand on the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and the reasons for opposing the report submitted by the high-powered Justice Shyamal Sen committee. The panel has recommended that five of the 396 mouzas demanded by the Morcha be added to the GTA.
“We are waiting for the meeting with the chief minister which has been scheduled for June 16. The chief minister has a different feeling for the hills and that is why we are still banking on her,” Chhetri, who is also the Morcha spokesperson, said.
The chief minister had earlier announced that she would meet the Morcha delegation on June 14 but later rescheduled it to the 16th. “We cannot say what she will tell us at the meeting as we are not foretellers. It is up to the chief minister, her cabinet colleagues and the officials to understand our stand, perceive the aspirations of the people and then decide on the mouza issue.”
Reacting to the Morcha meeting, minister Gautam Deb, who is also the core committee chairman of Trinamul in north Bengal, said the expansion of his party’s base in the hills would not affect the relationship with Morcha.
“Trinamul and Morcha are separate political platforms but that does not necessarily mean that we will have to confront each other. There might be differences in agendas and opinions, but that would not affect the relationship we have with each other,” Deb said. “Seeing the new government’s initiatives and the chief minister’s proactive attitude towards the hills, people have started joining our party. This process will continue in the coming days.”
The minister said Trinamul wanted the early formation of the GTA to expedite development in the hills.
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