In a stinging attack on Mamata Banerjee, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung Wednesday accused the chief minister of adopting a divide and rule policy while dealing with the hills. Addressing a rally called by the youth wing of the party demanding a separate Gorkhaland, Gurung said, “We have been deprived for too long and have been fed a lot of assurances. It is time we did tit for tat”. The GJM leader said that the CM was renaming and repackaging projects and schemes of the central government. “We will not cooperate with the Clean and Green Darjeeling project of the state government, which is a replica of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We will support Centre’s scheme instead,” he said. [related-post] Gurung said that the Trinamool Congress government, “which ruled the state with the help of police”, was not good enough to help them with their demands and they should start a movement in New Delhi. Gurung said that members of youth, women and students’ arms of the GJM will stage a seven-day programme outside the Parliament during the winter session demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland. He said that over 60,000 Gorkhas across the country would participate in the movement. GJM will also put up several protest programmes in the state next month. Gurung will lead a padyatra from Kalimpong to Darjeeling on October 2. Starting from October 8, torchlight rallies will be held in Darjeeling on Thursdays and posters demanding Gorkhaland would be put up.
