Gorkhaland protest: West Bengal govt accepts GTA chief Bimal Gurung's resignation

Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Thursday accepted Bimal Gurung’s resignation from the post of chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) — the development board in the north Bengal hills. [caption id=“attachment_3738909” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Bimal Gurung. Getty Images[/caption] “Gurung resigned from the GTA just a week before the term for the current board would get over on 30 June. His resignation letter has been accepted by the state government’s home department on Thursday,” Bengal tourism minister Gautam Deb told IANS. The minister said the resignation letter reached the concerned department via West Bengal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi on Thursday. Talking about the possibility of a fresh GTA election in the region, Deb said the state government has the provision of conducting the election in the next six months once the tenure of the current board gets completed. “The normal procedure is to conduct the election in the next six months, if not possible in another six months. We will follow the procedure,” he added. Gurung, the chief of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) that is spearheading the agitation in the Darjeeling hills, officially announced stepping down from GTA on 23 June and vowed to cut all ties with the Bengal government. His resignation letter was handed over to Governor Tripathi on 26 June by a three-member GJM delegation.