Hill peace message

Kalimpong, July 13: Mamata Banerjee today held a brief meeting with Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung after which both leaders spoke of promoting peace in the hills.

The Bengal chief minister, here to attend a programme to commemorate the 198th birth anniversary of the Nepali poet Bhanu Bhakta Acharya, interacted with Morcha leaders.

Later on, she had a 30-minute meeting with Gurung, after which Mamata said: “I am happy that the GTA election is happening. Once the elections are over, the Centre will release Rs 200 crore. I don’t want to see bad roads. All of us will work together. There will be no problem.”

The chief minister said though she had no time to go to other places or even for her own party, she would keep visiting the hills, if required “a thousand times”. “I don’t come to occupy your land or for politics. I haven’t come here to campaign for my party. If I don’t come then there would be no development. People get to know of these places because I come here,” she said.

Gurung said: “There were misunderstandings on certain issues but the air has been cleared now. We are committed to work with the government for the development of the hills.”

Mamata also announced projects drawn up for the hills, such as a Lepcha development council, a Nepali academy at Mungpoo and a cultural centre at Darjeeling.

Later today, she wrote on Facebook: “Today is a very special day for Darjeeling. We celebrated the 198th birth anniversary of Nepali Adi Kobi Sri Bhanu Bhakt. It is also an important day as after so many years, new members got elected in a democratic process as per the agreement of GTA…. I congratulate all of them for their participation in democratic process.”