Siliguri: Confusion continues to prevail among Trinamul
leaders and workers in the Darjeeling hills as state leaders are yet to
pass i a clear directive as to whether they should resume political
activities in the hills.
In the past six months, Mamata Banerjee's party has not taken
up any political activity in hills. In fact, the leaders and workers
have been asked to lie low and do not initiate any political move in an
overt manner.
On Tuesday, the hill leaders met state ministers Aroop Biswas
and Gautam Deb at the PWD inspection bungalow and there were discussions
on a series of issues, including the party's organisation and
activities in hills.
None of the ministers, sources said, came out with any clear
directive. "They obtained information about the Mirik municipality which
is being run by our party and also inquired about the current state of
affairs in the hills," said a source.
In the hills, after the agitation for the statehood had
started, political parties other than the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha like
ABGL and the Jan Andolan Party had initiated activities. Even the GNLF
that had been rarely hosting public programmes since 2007, that is since
the emergence of the Morcha, had also started activities.
After the strike and agitation were withdrawn, such activities continued in the hills.
Trinamul, however, refrained from holding any political
programme. That the party is still not willing to resume activities in
hills was evident from the brief remark of Aroop Biswas. When he was
asked about the issue, Biswas dodged a direct reply.
"We have our organisation in the hills... political activities are conducted there," was all that he said.
Such restraint on the part of Trinamul, which is quite
opposite to the aggressive stance that the party had adopted ahead of
the hill civic polls last year, indicates that Mamata Banerjee wants to
stay out of the political arena of hills.
"Trinamul leaders probably want to give some more time for things to settle in hills," said a veteran in hill politics.
The Telegraph
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