Darjeeling the heart of state: CM Morcha sees point in Mamata speech

Darjeeling, May 15: Mamata Banerjee today said Darjeeling “is the heart of Bengal” but also clarified almost immediately that she was not talking politics. After inaugurating an auditorium at the Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan, with Bimal Gurung on the dais beside her, the chief minister spoke for bringing development to the hills in her first visit here after January, when she had annoyed the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha with her speech. The January 29 event was also a government one like today’s, but Mamata told the crowd at Chowrastha: “Darjeeling is a part of us.” Today, the Morcha chief also spoke in measured words, aware that running the GTA without the state’s help may prove difficult. Gurung said “misunderstandings” would be a thing of the past. “Darjeeling is the heart of Bengal, please remember this,” Mamata said today. “I don’t want to talk about politics but we should work together. No provocation, no dirty politics. Darjeeling is like other parts of my state. I love my Bengal. I love my Darjeeling.” The chief minister spoke about the dip in tourist flow to Darjeeling in March and April because of “disturbances”. In March, the Morcha had announced a series of bandhs, which it later called off after talks with central ministers in Delhi. At today’s event, the Morcha supporters heard the chief minister in silence, clapping occasionally as she rolled out the list of projects that the government and GTA have planned. Featured in the list were medical colleges in Darjeeling and Kurseong, a fire station in Mirik, a polytechnic college at Kalimpong, Rs 2000 crore for a 300MW hydel project and Rs 155 crore for a drinking water project for Darjeeling. Morcha leader Roshan Giri, asked about Mamata’s message, said: “Everything was fine. There is no controversy.” A Morcha leader said: “The situation has changed now. Moreover, she did not make a political statement as she had done the last time when she visited the hills.” When Mamata had come to Darjeeling in January, there was tension in the hills over the Telangana issue. The Morcha leadership was under pressure to press for statehood. “The situation then was very volatile. The Morcha leaders tried to convey the message to the chief minister but there were misunderstandings,” said a senior Morcha leader. Gurung today repeated that “misunderstandings” would be a thing of the past. “What happened then was uncalled for. We are confident that it won’t be repeated.” He also admitted that running the GTA would not be smooth without the state government’s help. “Without the cooperation of the state government, the hill body cannot run properly,” he said. A senior Trinamul leader said: “Gurung wants to have total control in the hills. Without the state government’s backing he would find it difficult to meet the demands of the people. So he has decided to revive the ties with Mamatadi.”