Giri tells JMM to steer clear of Didi

TT;VIJAY DEO JHA Ranchi, April 1: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri today said his party didn’t want the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to forge an electoral alliance with the Trinamul Congress. Giri is in Ranchi to meet the JMM chief, Shibu Soren. The meeting was scheduled today but did not happen. It is possible that the two sides would sit for talks tomorrow to discuss the prospects of fighting the coming panchayat polls in the Dooars together. “GJM (Morcha) and the JMM have longstanding relationship and we are ideologically connected.

 We will fight the panchayat elections together. But in no condition we will like the JMM to forge any understanding with the TMC,” Giri told The Telegraph. Giri is in Ranchi along with the Morcha’s Darjeeling MLA, Trilok Dewan. The Morcha’s refusal to tie up with Mamata Banerjee’s party comes in the backdrop of JMM leader John Barla’s overtures to the ruling party in Bengal. Barla had recently held discussions with Trinamul leader Mukul Roy and announced that both the parties would fight the rural polls together.

 This didn’t go down well with the Morcha that had already veered towards the idea of fighting the elections with the JMM. Even a section of JMM leaders in north Bengal said Barla hadn’t been authorised to hold talks with Trinamul. 

 The Morcha fell out with Trinamul after Mamata Banerjee thundered in Darjeeling that there would be no division of Bengal. The hill party called a series of protests — most of them were called off later after talks with Union ministers — and launched a non-co-operation against GTA principal secretary Saumitra Mohan. Barla was summoned to Ranchi by the JMM leadership for talks today. 

He seemed to have softened his stand on the proposed alliance with Trinamul. “What Trinamul spoke about probable alliance (with the JMM) is not final. Okay, our party may not have any poll pact with the Trinamul in the Dooars because of specific concerns of the Morcha. But beyond the Dooars a poll pact with Trinamul can be discussed,” Barla told The Telegraph today.