Buddha draws line: No Greater Cooch Behar

Addressing a rally here this morning, he said: ‘‘Neither Greater Cooch Behar nor a separate Gorkhaland will ever be a reality. It’s impossible. We have lived together for the last 58 years and will continue to do so.’’

‘‘If Subhash Ghising is thinking of extending his territory by incorporating Siliguri into the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) area, he is making a mistake. He must not have forgotten the bloodshed in the past. We will not allow that again. We have agreed to give constitutional guarantee to the DGHC under the 6th Schedule. But it is a task of the Centre and will take some time to be implemented,’’ he said.

Accusing Ghising of ignoring development in the hills, he said, ‘‘The roads are pathetic and there is acute water scarcity. Many foreign tourists visit the hill station. Ghising should concentrate on these instead of fomenting trouble.’’

Hours later, a Delhi-bound Ghising said here that he had no ‘‘political issues’’ to settle with the state. ‘‘My demand for constitutional guarantee has been agreed upon, and the faster it is implemented, the sooner the Hill Council election will be held. As far as my Delhi trip is concerned, I am going to pursue some tourism projects,” Ghising said.

The Darjeeling Hill Council polls have been put on hold for more than a-year-and-a-half now with Ghising setting conditions.

On the CM’s accusation of lack of development, Ghising said: ‘‘You will only have to climb any tall building and look around in the hills to see how it is developing. Huge development work is in progress. If I meet the CM, I will tell him to finalise the modalities for constitutional guarantee so that elections can be held as early as possible.’’