By IANS,
Kolkata : Asserting that the Left Front government in West Bengal would never accept the division of the state, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Wednesday said his government wanted a political solution to the Gorkhaland issue.
“We want a political solution to the problems of the hills. Anarchy is going on in the hills for the last few months. We will never accept the division of the state,” said Bhattacharjee.
The state’s Darjeeling district has been witnessing violent agitations for creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland since the last two years.
The movement is spearheaded by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) which has called several shutdowns in the hills between 2008 and 2010, severely hitting tourism – the mainstay of the region’s economy.
Bhattacharjee slammed the Trinamool Congress for colluding with the Maoists in the state.
“The Maoists are another big problem in the state. We want to disarm them and defeat them. But unfortunately, the opposition party is colluding with them in an irresponsible way. They are helping the Maoists,” he said.
“In the last few months, there has been an atmosphere of intolerance and violence created by the opposition parties to capture power as early as possible. The administration has to act tough in order to control this,” said Bhattacharjee.