Hill politics: Meet between Tamang and Gurung trigger speculations
darjeeling: In a sudden turn of events, Binoy Tamang held a one-to-one meeting with Bimal Gurung in Darjeeling.
The meeting has given rise to speculations of Tamang returning to the Bimal faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
The meeting took place in the bungalow of the Puttabong Tea Estate on the outskirts of Darjeeling town on Wednesday evening.
However, both the leaders preferred to remain tight-lipped over the issue, refusing to divulge much regarding the meeting.
"I met the GJM Founder president Bimal Gurung. The meeting was one-to-one and went on for an hour. Many things were discussed but we will not divulge the details. We discussed politics of the period since the floating of GJM in 2007 till present times. What we need to do for the public and how the Gorkha problem needs to be addressed was discussed in the meeting," stated Tamang.
There was no statement from Gurung. Incidentally, Tamang had parted ways with Gurung following and agitation in 2017 that had culminated in a 105-day long bandh.
While Gurung had gone underground, Tamang along with Anit Thapa had taken control of the GJM. The GJM had then split into two factions- the Binoy and Bimal. Gurung suddenly returned to the Hills in December 2020 after pledging support to TMC.
However, on July 15, 2021, Tamang who was the president, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Binoy) tendered his resignation from the GJM.
In the resignation letter, he had stated that he had resigned taking moral responsibility of the party's poor performance in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
Political observers had opined that there was a growing difference between Tamang and Thapa that had prompted him to take such a step. Tamang interestingly had also tendered a copy of his resignation to Gurung and had sent him the GJM flag stating, "I have returned the party flag to the original owner."Gurung had reciprocated, stating that factionalism had ended and that he would welcome Tamang with open arms if Tamang wished to return.
