GMCC meeting cancelled; Gurung alleges conspiracy

Darjeeling: GJM chief Bimal Gurung has claimed that there is a conspiracy hatched by some Hill leaders and the state government to arrest him.

The scheduled meeting of the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee slated to be held on Sunday in Kalimpong was suddenly cancelled.

The GMCC had earlier demanded that the state should send the GMCC an official invitation for the Kolkata meeting slated to be held on August 29 at 4 pm. "No such invite was received by the GMCC till Sunday, hence we could not hold the meeting," stated Kalyan Dewan, Chief Coordinator, GMCC. While the GJM has already announced that they will be sending a 5-member team led by Chief Coordinator Binay Tamang for the Kolkata talks, GNLF and Jan Andolan Party will be sitting in separate meetings on Monday to decide.

All three are constituent parties of the GMCC. "We will wait till Monday for any meeting called by the GMCC. If they fail to do so we will sit in our own party meeting and decide on who all will represent GNLF in the Kolkata talks," stated Neeraj Zimba, spokesperson, GNLF.

Jan Andolan Party has also echoed similar sentiments. "We will sit in a meeting on Monday and decide whether we will attend the talks or not," stated harka Bahadur Chettri, president, Jan Andolan Party.

Meanwhile, GJM president Bimal Gurung in an audio recording from an undisclosed location stated: "There is a conspiracy being hatched by some leaders from Darjeeling and Kurseong who are hand-in-glove with the Bengal government. They are trying to trap me. In the next 10 or 12 days I will make their names public."

Gurung claimed that despite the conspiracy being hatched, he would not compromise on the Gorkhaland demand. "I will not spare anyone who compromises on the Gorkhaland demand too," warned Gurung.

"Some leaders have written to the state government without seeking my permission. Whichever party sits in talks with the state government on August 29 will have to walk out if any other issue is discussed other than Gorkhaland. If the parties discuss any other agenda then we will not allow them to return to the Hills," warned Gurung. He alleged that his whereabouts were being leaked to the police by some leaders.