A five-member delegation of Gorkha National Liberation Front today met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and submitted a memorandum demanding the state's recommendation for tribal status for some hill communities.
The delegation, which included Mann Ghising, son of GNLF founder-chief Subash Ghising, told Banerjee that separate statehood for the Darjeeling hills is no longer in their agenda, party spokesperson and ex-MLA Nar Bahadur Chhetri said.
He also said there would be elaborate discussion on the issues during the Chief Minister's scheduled visit to Darjeeling next month.
"We do not have any demand for statehood. In our memorandum we have mentioned various issues concerning Darjeeling besides our demand for tribal-status... Without the state's recommendation the status cannot be earned," Chhetri told reporters after a 30-minute meeting with Banerjee.
"We want to be part of the development. We want to work for the political development as well as for the overall development of the area including economy, tourism and also of the people," he said.
Chhetri alleged that tea workers in five tea gardens in Darjeeling were not getting wages or other benefits and the dues have gone up to Rs eight crore.
He said that PWD, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Arup Biswas, has directed the owners to "clear all the dues within 15 days".
He also alleged "rampant corruption" in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), which, he said, featured in the memorandum addressed to the chief minister.
Underlining the GNLF's "understanding" with the Trinamool Congress in the Assembly polls, Chhetri, when asked about their strategies of countering the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), said, "We will fight them politically. And in that there will be participation of three other big parties.
