The spokesperson of the Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha today
said 80 per cent of the organisation's leaders had decided to support
Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa.
Arjun Chhetri, the Yuva Morcha spokesperson, also said that the party
youth wing's members would be shuffled, leading to speculation if the
organisation's chief Prakash Gurung, believed to be close to Bimal
Gurung, would be removed.
The move is likely to deal another blow to Morcha president Gurung,
who has been forced to go into hiding following several cases slapped
against him by the government.
Political analysts pointed out that the Yuva Morcha used to be the
mainstay of Gurung's influence in the hills, which has started showing
signs of waning.
"Only emotions will not take the Gorkhaland agitation forward. We
need to be well-versed with reality too. We believe Binay Tamang and
Anit Thapa did the right thing by maintaining a diplomatic relation with
the state government," said Chhetri.
Since the end of the 104-day-old strike last month, several hill
leaders have questioned the steps taken by political parties,
particularly the Morcha, during the movement, which failed to make any
concrete gain.
"We are supporting the Binay Tamang-Anit Thapa camp as we believe
that the statehood agitation can move forward only through democratic
means. The primary reason the last agitation failed was because there
was no strategy in place and our leaders decided to take on the Bengal
government without any significant backing from the Centre," said
Chhetri.
Pointing out that the hill parties had expected support from Delhi
when they launched the movement, the youth leader said: "The Centre also
let us down. However, had a proper strategy been formulated, things
could have been different."
The Yuva Morcha said its members were also looking at revamping the
youth wing. "We are looking at revamping the portfolios within the party
soon," said Chhetri.
Observers said the youths could probably decide to remove Prakash
Gurung as their president. Prakash has been booked under provisions of
the UAPA for his alleged involvement in the blasts in the hills and has
gone into hiding.
"We are not in touch with Prakash Gurung. However, 80 per cent of the
Yuva Morcha leaders have decided to support the Binay-Anit camp," said
Chhetri.
He said the Yuva Morcha's vice-president, Niran Lama, general
secretary Amrit Yonzone and assistant general secretary Kewal Raj
Pokhrel had also joined the rebel camp.
In another development, Sushma Rai, a former Darjeeling municipality
councillor from Singamari area, extended support to the two disgruntled
leaders today.
She was made the convener of the Nari Morcha's Darjeeling subdivisional committee.
Binita Roka, who is with the Gurung faction at the moment, is the
president of the Nari Morcha's Darjeeling subdivisional committee.
Observers said the Tamang camp was now in the process of slowly
changing the office-bearers of the party's frontal organisations.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
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