By IANS,
Darjeeling : Formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland will not solve problems faced by people in West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said here Monday.
Addressing the maiden election meeting organised by the CPI-M in the hills of north Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls April 30, Yechury said tripartite talks involving the state and central governments and the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) were the only way to find a solution to the Gorkhaland crisis.
He said if the Third Front, in which the CPI-M was playing a major role, was voted to power, Darjeeling hills will get a higher level of autonomy.
The meeting in support of CPI-M candidate Jibesh Sarkar at Chawkbazar in the heart of Darjeeling town attracted a motley crowd.
Lambasting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for following “anti-people policies”, Yechury said none of these two combinations would be able to form the next government at the centre after the polls.
Ridiculing the BJP’s decision to field its veteran leader Jaswant Singh from Darjeeling with the support of pro-Gorkhaland GJM, Yechury said: “Jaswant Singh is no longer a heavyweight candidate”.