GJMM for interim, nominated GTA

GJMM for interim, nominated GTA

5 March 2012

manas ranjan banerjee

SILIGURI, 5 MARCH: Floundering in the GTA land maze, the GJMM appealed to the chief minister during her recent trip to the Hills to set up an interim, nominated Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

"This is the only way out of the stalemate as the 27 March deadline framed by the party president, Mr Bimal Gurung, is drawing near," confided a senior GJMM leader. "We will wait for the verdict of the high power committee on the land issue, but the development of the Hills cannot be put on hold as development and peace are inextricably linked."

Senior Trinamul Congress leader and Union minister of state Mukul Roy said the proposal is  not constitutionally viable. The chief minister refrained from commenting, though her view is supposed to be the same as that of her close aide.

GJMM general secretary Roshan Giri said: "As it is impossible for us to go for the GTA election without the additional lands from the Terai-Dooars being included in the autonomous body’s geographical contours, the state government must find a way out of the logjam. We keep exploring alternative options. A nominated body is one of them."

The party media secretary, Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri, who proved instrumental for the party in finalising the details of the GTA agreement, said the state government should weigh other options to end the uncertainty.

"We are in a fix," said Mr Chhetri. "So is the state government. Given the present drift in the situation we cannot mellow our land stance. Unless additional lands from the Hill-adjoining plains are incorporated, it would be impossible to carve out 45 GTA constituencies as envisaged in the agreement."

Mr Chhetri continued: "The state government’s problem regarding the interim nominated body proposal is understandable because of its constitutional unviability. However, some interim solution must be thrashed out to end the volatility."

Mr Chhetri also hinted at growing dissension within the party ranks, particularly in the Terai-Dooars, if the land issue is left out to facilitate the formation of the GTA. "We would be in trouble and the dissension might jeopardise the execution process," he said. "A pragmatic, out-of the box solution must be found to keep the Hills and the adjoining plains peaceful."

Senior Marxist leader Asok Bhattacharya said the proposed interim body was unacceptable to his party. "Such proposal would not just invite constitutional complications, but also make the GTA agreement practically redundant," Mr Bhattacharya said. "It is an infantile proposal and it just smacks of the GJMM’s nervousness. The Hill party seems to have been caught in the web of its own game.”

Mr Asok Bhattacharya claimed that the formation of the GTA might come to a halt due to lack of seriousness of the state government.

Mr Bhattacharya said: “The chief minister is trying to avoid her responsibility blaming the Centre for the delay of the GTA implementation.”

“Had the chief minister accepted the proposals of the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Dr Surjya Kanta Mishra, the state would have managed to escape from the present juncture,” Mr Asok Bhattacharya said, adding, “The GTA pact and the Bill contradict the Indian constitution on the issue of formation of zilla parishad under the GTA in the Hills.”

Notably, there is no three-tier panchayat system in the Hills and zilla parishad in Darjeeling district. The Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council functions for the Hills and the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad for plain areas in Darjeeling district.