Deepa dig at Mamata

Siliguri, Jan. 30: Deepa Das Munshi today accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of “hurriedly” signing the GTA agreement while “bypassing the issue of separate statehood.” “After assuming power, the chief minister, in a hurried manner, held a couple of meetings with Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders and went ahead to sign the GTA agreement. She bypassed the principal issue of Gorkhaland and did not give time or thought to settle it. Instead, she tried to gain popularity by creating the GTA. The statehood issue, which remained suppressed, has now blown off the lid,” said the Congress Union minister. “The central government is definitely a party to the agreement and assented to the cash assistance to the autonomous body. The principal onus was on the state government and the chief minister failed to deliver her task,” she said.

Deepa, a known Mamata-baiter, also pointed out that the allegation raised by the Morcha that the state is meddling its works, was a valid one. “When the departments have been transferred according to the GTA agreement, how can the state government function alone in the hills, without taking the GTA into confidence?” she asked. “The chief minister is oblivious to the ground realities and has invited trouble by taking things too casually,” she added. Shankar Malakar, the Darjeeling district Congress president and the MLA of Matigara-Naxalbari who had witnessed the Gorkhaland movement in the hills over decades, said the GTA has remained a half-hearted initiative on the part of the state government. “The GTA was formed but for some reasons or other, it was not allowed to function by the state government. Departments were not transferred and elected representatives were undermined over months. The chief minister’s imprudent step to keep the credits with herself and her government by providing land rights and inaugurating projects in the hills and not through the GTA has added fuel to the fire,” Malakar said. “The Centre has always come forward to help the state in dealing with the Darjeeling issue. Earlier, it was during the formation of the DGHC and recently, during the GTA agreement. However, just like the CPM, Trinamul has ruined the opportunity to mollify the hill residents and carry out extensive development work,” he added.(TT)