Bimal Gurung takes oath as GTA chief

Setting aside separate statehood demand in Darjeeling, GJM supremo Bimal Gurung on Thursday took oath as the new Chief Executive of the hill council in Darjeeling, from where he had resigned in July agitating for a separate state. Gurung, in presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, state Cabinet and other leaders from the gorkha community, took the oath to the office of Chief Executive of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). The oath-taking ceremony was presided over by West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan. Gurung’s U-turn and return to GTA is seen as a political victory for Banerjee, whose tough stance on the issue of Gorkhaland, forced the GJM strongman and his outfit to beat a retreat from their demand of separate state and return to the GTA.