Speaker Biman Banerjee told reporters here that the prayer was rejected on technical grounds since the assembly rules were not followed.
He said the letter was written to him by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) general secretary Roshan Giri and not by the MLAs concerned or by the legislature party. The three GJM MLAs, Harka Bahadur Chhetri, T K Dewan and Rohit Sharma represent Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong Assembly segments respectively.
GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri had recently said that a letter was written to the speaker that the MLAs would not sit with those of the ruling party and from the next session would sit with the opposition.GJM President Bimal Gurung today said that the agitation in Darjeeling was to protest the arrest of GJM leaders and Gorkhaland supporters "in the present crackdown by the state government's police against the movement for Gorkhaland."