Deb-Morcha meet fuels tie-up buzz Channel for talks open

Darjeeling, June 16: Trinamul minister Gautam Deb met senior Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders in Darjeeling today, which sources said could be a first step for a panchayat election understanding between the two sides for the Dooars. For the record, north Bengal development minister Deb said “development issues related to the GTA” were discussed. Morcha leader Roshan Giri, who attended the meeting also spoke about the talks veering around the GTA. Sources in the hills, however, attached significance to Deb’s visit at this time. A senior Morcha leader said: “Following today’s meeting there is a possibility of an alliance in the Dooars.” The meeting was called to ensure that a proper communication channel is opened with Trinamul to discuss the issue of the upcoming panchayat elections, the sources said. Trinamul, however, would not like to be seen overtly supporting a pro-Gorkhaland outfit in the Dooars, a region where many tribals are against being part of the state the Morcha is demanding. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has also said that she favours a united Bengal, a stand that earlier led to widespread protests in the hills earlier this year. A Morcha source said the party could have an understanding with Trinamul either to support its candidates where the hill party has not put up any of its names. There could also be a post-election understanding. About today’s meeting, a Morcha source said: “Even though an alliance was not discussed in detail, the meeting has cleared certain misunderstandings.” According to the source, Deb was to meet Morcha leaders in Darjeeling on June 7 to discuss a possible panchayat election tie-up. “He did not turn up for the meeting. Later, we found out that the minister was instead trying to woo our supporters in the Dooars. This created an atmosphere of mistrust, and expectedly our party president (Bimal Gurung) was not very happy with the development,” said the source. Today’s meeting seems to have cleared the misunderstanding to a certain extent. “When we are trying to work closely with the state government, such misunderstandings will not help. Even if Trinamul had openly stated that they would not want an alliance with us we would have accepted (that) as every party has its own compulsions,” said the source. But Gurung had himself said on June 12 that he was “open for talks” with Trinamul. “Such actions (Deb wooing Morcha supporters) was unacceptable to us,” the Morcha source said. Today’s meeting could have cleared the air and there is a possibility of a panchayat election alliance in the Dooars, sources in the Morcha said. “We are definitely interested in an alliance even now as in many seats we have not fielded candidates but our supporters can still be a decisive force. If things go well, even now we can ask our voters to vote for Trinamul candidates. Moreover, the need for each other in the post-election scenario and especially when forming the zilla parishad, panchayat samiti or choosing a panchayat pradhan from the elected gram panchayat cannot be ruled out,” said a source. The Morcha has fielded candidates in 183 gram panchayat seats, 37 in panchayat samiti seats and four candidates in zilla parishad seats. Deb, while interacting with the media after the meeting said: “Elections come and go but the state government wants to work with the GTA to ensure that there is peace and stability in the region. It is for this reason that the meeting was held so that ideas could be shared regarding the development of the hills.” The minister stressed that there was no discussion on panchayat elections but that “greater issues” were discussed. Asked about points about the GTA that featured in the discussion, Deb said there was no specific point-by-point discussion. “We believe that such meetings should be held on a monthly basis and we will again hold such meetings after July 15, when the panchayat elections are over.” Giri, general secretary of the Morcha and also an executive Sabha member, spoke on similar lines. “The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and the general functioning of the GTA was discussed,” he said. The other Morcha leaders present were Trilok Dewan, the Darjeeling MLA, and Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the Kalimpong MLA.