By IANS,
Kolkata : A team of leaders of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is spearheading a movement in West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills for the carving of a seperate Gorkhaland state, met Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi at his residence here Thursday.
The delegation, led by party president Biman Gurung, had a closed-door meeting with Gandhi. The talks continued for more than an hour.
“We’ve shared our demand for a separate Gorkhaland state with the governor. We told him about the problems we are facing in the region,” Gurung told reporters after the meeting at Raj Bhavan.
“Gandhi assured us, saying that he would talk to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding the issue,” he added.
A meeting between state government and GJM leaders to find a solution to the impasse in the Dooars area also remained inconclusive Wednesday evening as both sides stuck to their respective stands.
While the GJM delegation held firm on its decision to organise a 24-hour shutdown in Darjeeling district and Dooars in Jalpaiguri district Saturday, the government did not budge from its stand of not allowing the party to hold meetings and processions in the sensitive region.
According to Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, Bhattacharjee had categorically ruled out letting the GJM and its rival tribal body Akhil Bharatiya Adibasi Bikash Parishad (ABABP) hold processions or meetings to prevent unnecessary tension.