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GTA Council seeks fresh Centre-state talks for Gorkhaland
Binoy Tamang, the former chairman of the GTA Board of Administrators and a GTA member, said the resolution should be honoured
The newly-elected Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Council has passed a resolution demanding the renewal of dialogue between the Centre and the state on the demand for a separate Gorkhaland.
The 50-member council under Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) unanimously adopted the resolution at the first meeting of the body on Monday in Darjeeling. The BGPM, which was formed last year, won the GTA election on June 26.
Thapa and GTA chief executive proposed the resolution, said Anjul Chauhan, the council’s chairman. The demand for a separate state dates back to the 1980s. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha led the 2017 Gorkhaland movement. A 104-day strike was observed in Darjeeling and 13 people died during the movement.
BGPM fought the GTA elections on the statehood plank. Chauhan said the tripartite GTA accord was signed in July 2011 without dropping the demand for Gorkhaland. “So, the dialogue should open again.”
Ajoy Edwards, whose Hamro Party has eight members in GTA, said they supported the resolution on Monday. “But how seriously the GTA Sabha plans to pursue it remains to be seen.”
Binoy Tamang, the former chairman of the GTA Board of Administrators and a GTA member, said the resolution should be honoured. “Otherwise, it will have no value.”
The ruling Trinamool Congress won five of the 45 GTA seats and supports the BGPM-led GTA from the outside.
The council on Monday passed 55 resolutions including for minimum prescribed wages for tea garden workers.
