Gorkhaland agitation: No rift with GJM chief Bimal Gurung, says Binay Tamang

Kolkata: Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) joint secretary Binay Tamang on Tuesday rubbished reports of a rift between him and party chief Bimal Gurung. The GJM leader, however, said, he and other members of the party delegation now in the city for the all-party meeting on the Darjeeling hills, felt a little insulted by some of Gurung’s comments in a recently released voice clip. [caption id=“attachment_3934501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Bimal Gurung. Getty Images[/caption] “I have heard about the voice clip from the media. However, there is no division between me and Gurung. “We are taking all the steps after consulting with the central committee. He is being apprised of all the developments that are happening.Even the delegation team for the all party meeting has been approved by the central committee,” Tamang, who reached Kolkata on Monday with a five-member delegation from the party, claimed. “Yes, felt a little insulted by some of his statements in the clip. But being the party president, he has the prerogative and powers to say things. I do not know whom he has referred to in the clip,” he said. A clipping of a telephonic conversation has been recently released in the media where a voice resembling that of the GJM chief alleged that some of the hill party leaders are conspiring to sideline him from the ongoing agitation in the Darjeeling hills and are willing to compromise with the state government on the issue of Gorkhaland. The voice also claimed that the delegation that is going to hold talks with the state should settle for nothing less than a separate state of Gorkhaland, a long standing demand of the movement. “They should focus on the one point agenda of Gorkhaland or else walk out of that meeting. Otherwise, they won’t be allowed to come back to the hills,” the voice in the clip said. Responding to a letter from the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) last week requesting a dialogue to restore normalcy in the north Bengal hills, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called an all party meeting on August 29 at the state secretariat Nabanna. The hills have been on the boil for over two and a half months after the GJM revived its demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. Normal life has been paralysed since 12 June due to an indefinite shutdown called by the GJM, severely impacting the region’s economy based on tea, tourism and timber.