TNN | Aug 6, 2013, 03.53 AM IST
KOLKATA: Breaking his silence
over the ongoing Darjeeling turmoil, former chief minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee on Monday blamed the Mamata Banerjee government for it.
Bhattacharjee said the seeds of unrest were sown when the state government
hurriedly signed the tri-partite GTA agreement.
The Centre's decision to carve out Telengana may
have acted as a catalyst, but if not now, this would have led to unrest later,
the CPM leader said.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee - and Trinamool
Congress leadership - have been consistently pinning their blame on the Centre
for present Darjeeling unrest.
"We had opposed the GTA agreement
for this very reason," Bhattacharjee said while speaking on the 125th birth
anniversary of Muzaffar Ahmed at Mahajati Sadan on Monday. He-along with
other CPM top leaders-spoke on the 125th birth anniversary of Muzzafar Ahmed
at Mahajati Sadan.
Taking a dig at the pre-poll tie-up between the
Trinamool and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) before the assembly polls, the
former CM said there was a point the Trinamool had gained from such anarchist
forces and now the people of Bengal are paying its price. The former CM was
taking a dig at the pre-poll tie-up between Trinamool and Gorkha Janamukti
Morcha in the run-up to 2011 assembly polls.
Accusing the state government for failing to
maintain peace in Darjeeling, opposition leader in the assembly, Surjya Kanta
Mishra, said, "The chief minister may have strained ties with Congress,
but she should be in touch with the UPA government to keep life normal in
Darjeeling hills which has been crippled by an indefinite bandh on the
Gorkhaland demand."
Mishra said that the chief minister should have
patience and the keep doors open for talks with the Morcha 'before things go
out of control'.
"We neither back the statehood demand nor
support the indefinite bandh. What we want is normal life in Darjeeling
hills," he said. Alleging that the 'seeds of unrest' was embedded in the tripartite
treaty with the GJM, he said
"This state government had indirectly
supported Gorkhaland demand by inserting the name in the GTA."
"You indirectly supported the GJM demand
for Gorkhaland and GTA has given recognition to it,"
Mishra urged Mamata Banerjee to call an
all-party meeting to discuss the Darjeeling issue.
