Gorkha Janamukti Morcha has announced a day's respite yesterday in their indefinite stir to demand a separate state of Gorkhaland.
A team of GJM legislators and MPs, past and present, would go to New Delhi during the day to meet Congress and BJP leaders on the demand for a separate state.
All shops were closed and traffic was off the roads, though a bus of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation arrived from Siliguri in the plains and returned, as GJM supporters were on the streets in large numbers voicing the demand for Gorkhaland.
The teacher and the student wings of the GJM would also meet later in the day to decide whether schools and colleges would reopen.
Also Read
After the meeting, the decision would be made known to the GJM-led Gorkhaland Joint Action Committee, which is carrying forward the agitation. The GJAC would subsequently make a formal announcement.
As part of the indefinite shut down, 'Ghar Bhitra Janta' (people staying indoors) would be held on September 2 and 3, as announced by the GJM.
On August 29, the CM had renewed her appeal to the GJM for restoration of normalcy in the hills.
The Calcutta High Court had on August 14 expressed displeasure over the GJM's violation of its order of August 7 which had held the indefinite bandh in Darjeeling as illegal.