Work at Darjeeling hill council resumes after nearly 3 months

In yet another placatory gesture after its U-turn from agitation to talks on the Gorkhaland demand, the GJM today resumed normal work at the hill council ahead of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to the hills.

Pending work was taken up during the day at the Gorkha Territorial Administration, which remained non-functional almost for three months in the aftermath of the agitation and demands for the GJM to quit it, its vice chairman Lobsang Yolmo said.

In another conciliatory move, the GTA, which remained headless since GJM president Bimal Gurung resigned as CEO on July 30 and his successor Binay Tamang was arrested, it was decided to hand over responsibilities to deputy chief Ramesh Allay.

"Till the time Binay Tamang is released, the GTA Sabha on 23 or 24 of this month will appoint Ramesh Allay and hand over the responsibility of the CEO to him in the presence of the Principal Secretary, R D Meena," Yolmo said. He recalled that when the GTA Sabha had appointed Tamang as the new CEO on September 27, a resolution was adopted demanding his immediate release along with other GTA members.

He conceded that the GJM's demand that the state Governor should swear-in the new CEO was not responded to by the state government. Earlier, discarding the non-cooperative stance with the West Bengal government, it was decided that the three GJM MLAs -- Rohit Sharma, Harka Bahadur Chettri and Trilok Dewan -- would meet the chief minister in Darjeeling town on October 24. The Trinamool Congress supremo's political convention is scheduled on Thursday in Darjeeling, during which a sizeable number of people from the Hills are likely to join the party.