By IANS
Kolkata : Subhas Ghising, leader of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), had to take refuge in Kolkata Friday after failing to enter the Darjeeling hills for days following an agitation by his rivals. He is now set to meet Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Ghising, who is now the caretaker administrator of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), arrived here from Bagdogra airport in north Bengal after failing to enter the Darjeeling hills for days on his way back home from New Delhi since Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) Feb 18 launched an indefinite shutdown.
GJM has crippled life in the three sub-divisions of Darjeeling district with an economic blockade since Feb 17, demanding statehood and immediate sacking of Ghising as the caretaker administrator of DGHC.
GJM is opposed to the Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling – which envisages greater autonomy – and instead wants a separate state for the Gorkhas of the region.
Ghising, once a champion of Gorkhaland and opposed to the ruling communists, would meet Bhattacharjee Saturday though the state government has stated that his term as caretaker administrator would not be extended.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch Jyoti Basu, meanwhile, said the GNLF chief had lost the confidence of his own party.
Basu said Ghising had become “weak with his own partymen going against him”. He added that Bhattacharjee was closely monitoring the situation and was in touch with New Delhi.
The central government in 2005 announced sixth schedule status to the GNLF-led DGHC that ensures greater autonomy to the governing body. But GJM, led by Bimal Gurung, is demanding complete statehood.
Gurung, once a lieutenant of Ghising, was expelled from GNLF for “anti-party” activities.