The Jana Anodolan Party today said it would contest alone in
elections to all four hill municipalities by positioning itself as an
alternative to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Trinamul Congress.
The polls to Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik municipalities are tentatively scheduled for May 14.
JAP president Harka Bahadur Chhetri said the people had enough of the
Morcha, and a party based in the plains with a single-point agenda of
development couldn't be an alternative.
"People have been deprived of basic facilities
like road, water, electricity, education and health by a party (Morcha)
seeped in corruption. Trinamul, on the other hand, has only got to offer
development, which by itself is not bad, but every person in the hills
in his heart aspires for a separate state. I would appeal to the people
of the hills to give us a chance," he said.
Asked if the JAP would not accept the support of any other party, if
it came without any condition, Chhetri said in the present political
situation he did not see that happening.
"We have decided to go it alone in all four municipalities. I think
we have been able to create our own space in the hills. Now, it is for
the people to decide. Win or lose, the JAP is in for a long haul," he
said.
Chhetri said unlike the Morcha, which only made promises, the JAP in a
little over a year of its existence had delivered Kalimpong district.
"On the demand of a separate state, which is close to the heart of all
hill people, nothing has been done. The JAP is in a position to create a
new roadmap and raise the issue at both the state and national levels.
We have our achievements to show, others only make promises," said
Chhetri.
Trinamul, too, is hoping to cash in on the Kalimpong district issue
in the civic polls. The other rallying point for the ruling party is the
15 community-based development boards that the state government had set
up in the hills.
"People are aware of the fact that it is our chief minister who
delivered Kalimpong district. The development boards, too, are the
brainchild of our chief minister. Look at the works these boards have
been doing, particularly for the poor. We are confident all this will
not be lost on the people at the time of voting," said a Kalimpong-based
Trinamul leader.(TT)
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