‘Won’t allow anybody to divide and rule’
1 Aug 2013 5:21 AM IST
Even as West Bengal’s chief minister Mamata Banerjee saluted the pro-Trinamool Congress mandate of the people in the panchayat elections in the state, she asked why the Centre was undermining peace in the hills to serve ‘vested political interests’. Bimal Gurung, who is the Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president, submitted his resignation from the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) on Tuesday.
Accompanying the thumping victory for her party is the uncertainty over the future of the GTA after Gurung’s resignation. ‘For Gorkhaland I can quit GTA. Give me your hand and I will lead you to Gorkhaland. Be prepared for the final battle for Gorkhaland,’ said Gurung. Banerjee, meanwhile, said she will get Central security forces to control the indefinite bandh called by the GJM in the hills from Saturday.
The GJM’s call for its ‘final battle’ comes at a time when the Centre is reportedly going ahead with the creation of Telangana. ‘Politically, our demand may not be equated with Telangana, but historically, socially, culturally and ethically similarity exists. So if Telangana can be created why not Gorkhaland?’ the GJM supremo asked.
Banerjee disagreed. ‘Telengana cannot be compared with Darjeeling,’ she said. ‘Darjeeling is a part and parcel of our state… We will not allow anybody to divide and rule.’
Meanwhile, Banerjee patted herself on the back over her win in the panchayat polls on her Facebook page on Tuesday. ‘This time, we have fought it all alone with the help, blessings and dua from Maa-Maati-Manush and the people of Gram-Bangla’, she said.
‘The Congress, CPM and BJP – all worked mostly together. But the results have proved again that the mandate of Maa-Maati-Manush has clearly been on our side and helped us to pass the ‘agnipariksha’ of people’s confidence and trust’, said Banerjee, whose party swept the panchayat polls. Out of 17 Zila Parishads, the Trinamool Congress alone has swept 13.
One each has gone to the Left and Congress. Trinamool Congress has literally wiped out the Left in almost all their strong bastions in Burdwan, Birbhum, Paschim Midnapore, Purba Midnapur, Coochbihar, Hooghly, Bankura, Purulia, Dakshin Dinajpur.
Accompanying the thumping victory for her party is the uncertainty over the future of the GTA after Gurung’s resignation. ‘For Gorkhaland I can quit GTA. Give me your hand and I will lead you to Gorkhaland. Be prepared for the final battle for Gorkhaland,’ said Gurung. Banerjee, meanwhile, said she will get Central security forces to control the indefinite bandh called by the GJM in the hills from Saturday.
The GJM’s call for its ‘final battle’ comes at a time when the Centre is reportedly going ahead with the creation of Telangana. ‘Politically, our demand may not be equated with Telangana, but historically, socially, culturally and ethically similarity exists. So if Telangana can be created why not Gorkhaland?’ the GJM supremo asked.
Banerjee disagreed. ‘Telengana cannot be compared with Darjeeling,’ she said. ‘Darjeeling is a part and parcel of our state… We will not allow anybody to divide and rule.’
Meanwhile, Banerjee patted herself on the back over her win in the panchayat polls on her Facebook page on Tuesday. ‘This time, we have fought it all alone with the help, blessings and dua from Maa-Maati-Manush and the people of Gram-Bangla’, she said.
‘The Congress, CPM and BJP – all worked mostly together. But the results have proved again that the mandate of Maa-Maati-Manush has clearly been on our side and helped us to pass the ‘agnipariksha’ of people’s confidence and trust’, said Banerjee, whose party swept the panchayat polls. Out of 17 Zila Parishads, the Trinamool Congress alone has swept 13.
One each has gone to the Left and Congress. Trinamool Congress has literally wiped out the Left in almost all their strong bastions in Burdwan, Birbhum, Paschim Midnapore, Purba Midnapur, Coochbihar, Hooghly, Bankura, Purulia, Dakshin Dinajpur.
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