Kolkata: A crucial meeting chaired by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, to discuss a permanent political solution for the hills scattered over Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, began at a resort at Sukna near Siliguri district in Darjeeling district on Saturday afternoon.
The others attending the meeting include West Bengal Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, BJP Lok Sabha member from Darjeeling, Raju Bista and the three party legislators from the three hill-based Assembly constituencies of Darjeeling (Noman Rai), Kalimpong (Bharat Kumar Chhetri) and Kurseong (Sonam Lama).
Also present at the meeting are the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM)’s president, Bimal Gurung and the GJM general secretary, Roshan Giri.
The current president of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), Man Ghisingh, who is also the son of GNLF founder-president late Subash Ghisingh, is also present at the meeting.
The main agenda of the meeting is finding a permanent political solution for the hills.
The GJM played an important role in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, with BJP candidates, backed by the GJM, winning all six of the Assembly seats in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.
After that, Gurung and Giri came to Kolkata last month and met CM Adhikari at the ground tent of the Public Works Department. Transport Minister Arjun Singh was also present at the meeting. Their conversation lasted for about an hour-and-a-half.
The political tension in the hills over the demand for a separate Gorkhaland had been going on for a long time. The conflict between the previous state governments, both Left Front and Trinamool Congress with the hill-based political parties over the demand, continued for long.
Now, with the BJP-led government being formed in West Bengal with the backing of GJM, the latter’s leadership believes that the Gorkhaland problem could be solved with the help of a ‘double engine’ government at the Centre and the state.
Gurung expressed this hope after meeting the Chief Minister in Kolkata recently. Gurung then said that the political problem in the hills will be solved on the basis of discussions with the central and the state governments.
That issue may also come up in the discussion with HM Shah. Apart from that, other issues like the appointment of teachers in the hills, tea gardens, transport system, GTA problem might also be discussed in Saturday’s meeting.
(IANS)
