Darjeeling braces for another round of political turmoil

Gorkha party and ruling TMC battle for their existence in the hill station of West Bengal

The picturesque hill station of Darjeeling is bracing for another round of political turmoil as a power tussle between the two political friends turned rivals has reached a flashpoint.

While Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) is struggling to maintain its existence, West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) is desperate to make its mark in the hills. The GJM has called for a 12-hour strike on September 28 demanding details of Rs4 billion (Dh220m) spent in hills over four years as claimed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

“The chief minister comes to Darjeeling very frequently and announces several projects for the people. Last week, she had announced that her government has given Rs4 billion to the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA).

“We want a detailed breakup of this money which according to the chief minister, has been given to the GTA. If the chief minister fails to give any break-up by September 27, we will go on strike,” GJM chief Bimal Gurung told Gulf

over phone. Gurung is upset over Banerjee’s announcement to create ethnic based development boards to curb the mass-base of GJM.

“We will also start Sherpa board, Tamang board, Drukpa board for the development of these communities. Here the work is done successfully by the boards. There is a caste review going on. After Pujas when I come here I will make more announcements,” Banerjee said last week, while reviewing the work of the Lepcha board.

There have been demands for separate boards raised by Bhujel, Newar communities as also other minorities in the hills like Muslims and Bengalis.