Pintail (WB): A historic tripartite agreement ending two decades of uncertainty in the hills was signed on Monday for a new council in Darjeeling with more powers even as both West Bengal government and the Centre ruled out any division of the state but GJM struck a discordant note.
The agreement for the new body, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung here, about 8 km from Siliguri, as a 48-hour bandh was observed in the adjoining Terai and Dooars in the plains against the signing.
The agreement was signed by West Bengal Home Secretary G D Gautama, Union Home Ministry Joint Secretary K K Pathak and GJM general secretary Roshan Giri here.
A note of discord was struck by GJM president just after the signing ceremony saying, “Gorkhaland is our birth right. We will not budge one step from this demand. There is a difference between the signing of the tripartite agreement and Gorkhaland.”
He told reporters, “In the coming days we will formulate our strategy on Gorkhaland. But, we are happy with the signing of the tripartite agreement.” (PTI)