Asok potshot at Centre - barb for delhi and advice too

Bengal urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya today accused the Centre of adopting double standards in hill matters.

“We have come to know that Prime Minister, while addressing a gathering of DGPs in New Delhi yesterday, expressed concern over the ongoing agitation in the hills and sought action against law breakers,” said the minister here this afternoon.

“It seems the Centre has realised that the hill issue cannot be resolved merely by negotiating with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said: “The situation in Darjeeling hill area also needs a careful watch. The writ of the state should be firmly established in all these areas. The state police and the central paramilitary forces should take firm action against those who take the law into their own hands.”

Bhattacharya also alleged that there was dichotomy between what the Centre preached and what it practised.

“Ever since the Morcha launched the agitation in the hills, we have been insisting on stringent action and sought paramilitary forces from the Centre. The paramilitary forces were sent to guard NH31A and to maintain law and order in the hills. The situation was improving but suddenly, the Centre withdrew the forces,” the minister said.

“If the Centre, that also the Prime Minister, feels strong action is to be taken against those violating law, why did the home ministry withdraw the CRPF then?”

Bhattacharya also alleged that the Congress had tried to forge a tie-up with the Morcha before Parliament polls last year. “However, the BJP succeeded and the Congress had to accept the defeat,” he said.

The minister also spoke on the escape of Morcha leader Nickole Tamang from Pintail Village. “We are not ruling out the possibility of Nickole Tamang getting help for the escape. Although his escape is a setback to the investigation, those involved in the murder of Madan Tamang will not be spared.”

Source: The Telegraph

Darjeeling Funds misuse to dominate talks: Asok

The misuse of DGHC funds by the frontal organisations of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, as alleged by the council’s administrator B. L. Meena, will be discussed in detail at the next round of political-level talks in Delhi, according to Bengal municipal affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya.

Meena had told the media on April 23 that the Morcha’s frontal organisations like the Nari Morcha and the Yuva Morcha were directly controlling the implementation of the DGHC’s development schemes.

Bhattacharya — who is tasked to represent the state government, along with Bengal health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra, at the political level meeting — said in Gangtok today: “We will discuss the matter in an elaborate manner during the tripartite talks, as the charges are very serious.”

Bhattacharya is on a three-day visit to Sikkim to oversee the organisational work of the CPM in the state. He, however, did not comment when asked how a party that had no electoral mandate could dictate the use of the DGHC funds.

He iterated the Bengal government’s position on the Morcha’s Gorkhaland demand and said the party should accept the proposal for a more empowered council as an alternative to the statehood for the hills. “The proposal sent by the Centre and the one we will place at the next round of talks are better and more viable than the Morcha’s document on an interim set-up,” said the minister.

Meena’s allegation prompted the Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha to file a Rs 10 crore defamation suit against him in the court of the Darjeeling civil judge (senior division) today. “The case has been admitted and will come up for hearing on May 29,” said Taranga Pandit, a lawyer representing the Nari Morcha.

When told about the defamation case, Meena said he had enough evidence to show the direct involvement of the women and youth wings of the Morcha in the execution of the DGHC projects.

“I have inspected two sites where work is going on and I have specific written proof that the Nari Morcha and the Yuva Morcha are engaged in two projects being undertaken at Sukna High School. When I visited the spot, some eight to ten students (of the Yuva Morcha) admitted that they were doing work worth Rs 40 lakh. I have spoken only about two projects in Sukna and I have papers with which I can go anywhere,” said Meena.

He said while one project was on infrastructure development of the school, entailing an expenditure of Rs 18 lakh, the other was the erection of a boundary wall and development of a playground worth Rs 40 lakh.

Meena, who has been accused by the Morcha of trying to derail the Gorkhaland movement, said today: “I have nothing against the ongoing movement and I am simply doing my duty. Whatever I have said is based on my findings and not to malign or implicate anyone or any forum. But if anyone blames me for making baseless comments, I am not ready to digest them. The jobs in Sukna were assigned to a DGHC-empanelled contractor of the same locality, but were eventually taken up by the frontal organisations of the Morcha.”

With Meena standing by his accusations, the Morcha again said he was doing so to hide his “own incompetence”.

“Our first question is if he has proof, what is he waiting for? By making these statements, he has virtually spoken of his own incompetence and he should resign. We want to make it clear that in no way is the Morcha or any of our frontal organisations involved in the execution of DGHC work,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the media and publicity secretary of the Morcha.

Source: The Telegraph

Asok and Surjya on Gorkha talks panel - Morcha mum, waits for official communication on names

Ministers Asok Bhattacharya and Surjya Kanta Mishra will represent the state at the political-level talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on March 18, the Bengal government said today.

There were no surprises when chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti announced the name of Morcha bete noir municipal affairs and urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya as one of the representatives. Bhattacharya’s name has been doing the rounds for sometime. The other representative, Mishra, is in charge of health and is a member of the CPM’s state secretariat.

The Morcha leadership had said on Sunday that it would declare the composition of its team only after the Bengal government disclosed the names of its representatives.

Told about today’s announcement, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said in Darjeeling: “Let us receive the official communication, then only we will react.”

At Writers’ Buildings today, Chakrabarti told reporters: “The municipal affairs minister and the health minister will attend the March 18 tripartite talks in Delhi over issues pertaining to the recent developments in the Darjeeling hills.”

Asked about the Morcha’s reservations to have Bhattacharya on the talks table, Chakrabarti said: “We cannot decide who will represent the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha at the talks. Similarly they, too, cannot dictate terms on who would represent the government at the Match 18-meeting. That simply cannot happen.”

State home secretary Ardhendu Sen will accompany the two ministers to Delhi to “assist them” for the fifth round of tripartite talks. “The home secretary will be going to Delhi to assist the health minister and the municipal affairs minister. I cannot tell you whether he will participate in the talks,” Chakrabarti said when asked if the bureaucrat would take part in the meeting to be held at the political level.

The Union home ministry on Saturday formally intimated to the Morcha the date of the meeting along with names of its representatives. The four-member panel would be led by junior home affairs minister Ajay Maken. The other central representative is the Trinamul Congress minister of state, Dinesh Trivedi.

After the last round of talks in Darjeeling on December 21, Union home secretary G.K. Pillai had announced that the fifth round of talks would be at the political level, acceding to a request made by the Morcha leadership.

On March 2, Union home minister P. Chidambaram announced the date for the fifth round. The cabinet committee on political affairs had suggested such a panel for the fifth round of talks last month.

Patkar’s aides slam CPM comment

Supporters of noted social activist Ms Medha Patkar (file photograph right) today reacted sharply against the CPI-M comments in which the party criticised Ms Patkar for trying to meditate between the warring Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP) and the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) in Dooars.

Both the state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya, and the CPI-M Darjeeling district secretariat member Mr Jibesh Sarkar had yesterday alleged that Ms Patkar and her companion Ms Anuradha Talwar were in Dooars to foment the trouble further.

Srijan - a Siliguri based intellectual-activists body having close ties with Ms Patkar, today condemned the CPI-M comments in strong words and termed these as “uncivilized”. MORE...

Asok warns of replay - I am just a medium to achieve Gorkhaland: Morcha chief

Siliguri: People spearheading the movement for Gorkhaland will face a Subash Ghisingh-like situation one day, Asok Bhattacharya, the Bengal urban development minister, today warned.

“Once Ghisingh (the GNLF chief) was worshiped like God and the hill people used to follow him whatever he asked them to do. When he had ordered them to worship stones, they did so. The situation is same in the hills now. When Bimal Gurung (the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president) directed the people to wear dawra sural and chowbandi choli, they obliged him,” Bhattacharya said.

The CPM leader said the GNLF leader’s popularity was at the top when he was leading the Gorkhaland movement. “But nobody knows where he is now. If he was the true leader, he would not have faced such a situation.”

Bhattacharya, who was addressing a gathering at Salugara, 7km from here, said: “Same will happen to those who are presently organizing the (statehood) movement in the hills, because they are also doing what Ghisingh had once done.”

Changing number plates, blocking the roads, not allowing opposition leaders to speak and threatening them to leave the hills cannot be called a democratic movement, Bhattacharya said.

Foundation Stone laid by Urban Development Minister

Kurseong : Bengal urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya today laid the foundation stone of a new building of Kurseong College on the institution’s 40th anniversary.

A new building has become necessary for the college to start undergraduate courses in microbiology, computer science and other subjects. It will come up on a 2,500sqft area on the college campus at a cost of Rs 48 lakh.

“The entire amount will come from the MP (Rajya Sabha) fund. As of now Rs 12 lakh has been sanctioned from the fund to initiate work,” said Prabhat Pradhan, the principal of the college. In the first stage, only two storeys of the building will be constructed

The minister asked Kurseong College to start professional courses apart from teaching general arts, commerce and science streams. “Military science, anthropology, BCA and MCA are some of the courses that can be started here. I will ask the government to generate funds for the development of the college.”

Source: The Telegraph