Plains parties in GTA election fray

Siliguri, June 18: Representatives of the Terai Dooars Joint Action Committee today said they would field candidates in the GTA polls scheduled for July this year.

Aloke Chakraborty, the chairman of the north Bengal regional committee of the Intuc and a frontline leader of the committee, today said they have started negotiations with parties such as the CPRM and the ABGL at an informal level and have decided to field candidates in all 45 seats of the GTA.

The Terai Dooars Joint Action Committee is a forum of organisations protesting the inclusion of plains territories under the GTA.

“We intend to contest the GTA polls and put candidates against the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in all 45 seats. Our attempt is to get the support of other political parties of the hills and prove that Morcha does not have the majority support in the three hill subdivisions as it claims all the time,” he said.

“Although our activities have remained confined to the Dooars and the Terai so far, we have started contacting representatives of other communities such as the Lepchas, Boro and Mech tribals in the hills, seeking their support in favour of the GTA.”

According to sources, non-Gorkhas comprise around 30 per cent of the population in the hills. “Our plan is to take parties such as the ABGL and the CPRM into confidence and strive together for seats in the GTA. We are well aware that Trinamul is expanding its base and plans to contest the polls. We will in due course also approach the party, requesting leaders to join hands and ensure that one common candidate is fielded against the Morcha,” Chakraborty added.

Asked about their support base in the hills, Chakraborty said: “Gorkhas are definitely the majority in the hills but the presence of other communities cannot be undermined. Even among the Gorkhas, there are thousands who are against the Morcha for its whimsical and irrational decisions, which ultimately is affecting the economy and peace in the hills and the plains.”

He added: “These will be on our agenda and as a part of the exercise, we want other hill parties to join hands with us… at the earliest and initiate development work in the hills. There might be differences among us over the Gorkhaland issue but we all want consensus on early formation of the GTA and combined representation through common candidates.”

The joint action committee today said its leaders would meet Manoj Agarwal, the principal secretary of the north Bengal development department, who is heading the three-member fact-finding committee formed by the state government.

“We have called a meeting here on June 25 where representatives of all 26 constituent organisations of our committee will be present. The future course of action on the territory issue, negotiations and plans on the GTA polls would be discussed at the meeting,” Rajesh Lakra, the joint convener of the committee and general secretary of the Terai Dooars regional unit of Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, said. (TT)