VIVEK CHHETRI
Darjeeling, Aug. 13: The
state government today opened a fresh flank of conflict with the Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha over the process of electing Bimal Gurung’s successor
to head the GTA Sabha.
According to sources, home
secretary Basudeb Banerjee, who visited Darjeeling today, said the GTA
Sabha members could not make a nominated member head the autonomous body
as it went against the GTA act.
The Morcha had
more or less decided to install 86-year-old Brikhu Bhusal, a nominated
member of the Sabha who has a tailoring business, as Morcha chief Bimal
Gurung has resigned. The Morcha has two nominated members in the Sabha,
Trinamul three.
A source said:
“The state government is of the opinion that if a nominated member is to
be made the chief executive, then the Sabha will have to write to the
government which will then select a nominated member to be the chief
executive. However, the state government believes that even this
nominated chief executive will have to conduct elections within 15 days
to elect a chief executive from among the elected GTA members.”
The Morcha, however, has read the GTA act differently.
Roshan Giri, the
party’s general secretary who is an executive member of the GTA Sabha,
said: “The act is not clear on whether only an elected member can be
made the chief executive of the GTA.”
A Morcha leader cited various sub-sections of Section 37 of the act in a bid to drive home the point.
The party leader
said: “Section 37(6) of the GTA act states that ‘there shall be a chief
executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration who shall be
elected by the elected members from among themselves’.
The Morcha leader
said the government was reading only this section but not Section 37(8),
which “is more pertinent as it speaks of a casual vacancy as is the
case with the office of the chief executive of the GTA”.
He said the first
part of Section 37(8) reads: “‘In the case of any casual vacancy in the
office of the Chief Executive, caused by death, resignation, removal or
otherwise, the elected members shall, in accordance with such procedure
as may be prescribed, elect one of the members to fill up the vacancy’.”
The Morcha leader
said: “Had it been the intention of the legislature to restrict the
choice only to elected members, the language of 37(6) would have been
replicated in 37(8). The legislature, however, has chosen to widen the
pool of eligible members for the appointment as chief executive to all
members whether elected or nominated in the case of casual vacancy.”
What the Morcha
leader emphasised was that the first part of Section 37(8) did not
specify that the elected members would have to elect a GTA Sabha chief
“from among themselves”, unlike Section 37(6).
Sources said the
Morcha was citing this sub-section in the GTA Act to drive home the
point that a nominated member can be made the chief executive in the
event of a “casual vacancy”. Asked about the government’s stand that if
the Sabha wanted a nominated member to be chief executive then it should
write to the government, the Morcha leader said this provision of the
act was not applicable at the moment. “The home secretary is talking
about the second part of the Section 37(8) and this cannot be applicable
at the moment,” the leader said.
The second part of
the Section 37 (8) says if the election is “pending”, the government
may appoint “one of the members to be the Chief Executive who shall hold
office… until a Chief Executive, elected in accordance with the
provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder enters upon his
office”.
The Morcha leader
said: “There is no question of the election being pending as the GTA
Sabha has been called to elect a chief executive and the state
government’s interpretation is wrong.”
Sources today said
Banerjee, who held an administrative meeting at Richmond Hill in
Darjeeling, directed GTA principal secretary R.D. Meena to accept the
request made by Bhupendra Pradhan, the chairman of the GTA Sabha, to
call a meeting to elect the next chief executive on August 16.
“A decision was
today taken that the GTA Sabha meeting will be held at 2.30pm on August
16 and the same has been communicated over phone to the GTA Sabha
members,” said a hill source.
Sources in the
Morcha said the party’s legal cell was exploring possibilities of taking
the state government to court if it did not allow the election of the
nominated member.
The Morcha was
weighing all options, including going to court. The final call would be
taken by Gurung in a day or two, the Morcha source said.
Gurung today said the agitation would resume on August 19.
“The agitation
will continue from the August 19. The Morcha will continue to exercise
its freedom of expression, speech and will assemble peacefully to press
their demand for Gorkhaland. We will let the people know our plans on
August 16,” he said near his home in Tukvar.
The home secretary
also held a meeting on law and order. “To start with, water canons will
be brought to Darjeeling next week,” said a source.
The police have today arrested 30 Morcha activists and Manoj Tamang, a Morcha leader from Gorubathan.
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