Left Front Split On Gorkhaland Issue

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The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the strongest peg of the front, is divided on the proposal for a new hill state.

Its major ally in the front, Communist Party of India, appears to have divergent views from the CPM, as voiced by that partys politburo.

Though the government has opposed the demand for a separate hill state, CPM members from Darjeeling have objected to the holding of Panchayat elections in the area.

The partys politburo feels that the problems can be settled through the granting of greater autonomy and powers to the Hill Council. CPM leader Anil Biswas refused to comment on the issue. Biswas did disclose, however, that the Gorkhaland issue would figure prominently in the central committee meeting scheduled for October-end.

Based on the findings of a visit to the hills by its state-level leaders, the West Bengal unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has sent a report on Gorkhaland to its national executive.

According to party state unit secretary Manju Kumar Majumdar, the CPI is rooting for an all-party meeting on the issue, although matters are yet to be decided with its Left Front partners.

The CPI was among the first to send a fact-finding mission and take notice of the brewing tension in the hills.

The hill issue has made the front more susceptible than ever to intra-group tension. The Forward Bloc, a third important constituent, has lost much of its clout mostly due to dissidence and the consequent departure of major leader Kamal Guha. The Revolutionary Socialist Party has suffered a similar fate with the departure of Jatin Chakrabarty.

CPI leaders have privately admitted that the demand for Gorkhaland has gathered momentum due to unsatisfactory disbursement of funds by the state government and the lack of executive powers granted to the autonomous Hill Council, set up following the Gorkhaland agitation some years ago. Officially, however, no statement has been made as yet. Besides, CPI leader and Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta has not committed himself on the score.

State Congress president Somen Mitra paid a visit to Darjeeling early this month, and requested an all-party meeting on the issue. He sent letters to Congress President Sitaram Kesri in New Delhi and West Bengal minister for Home ( Police) Buddhadev Bhattacharya on the issue.