GJM to renew statehood call on Jan 20

Accusing the Trinamool Congress government of not “cooperating enough” in the smooth running of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration(GTA, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on Tuesday said it will renew its old demand of a separate statehood from a rally to be held on January 20 in Darjeeling town.

“We have planned a rally at Darjeeling on January 20 from where future programmes of the party will be announced,” GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri told The Indian Express.

However, the GJM’s plan to once again take up the issue of separate statehood demand stems more from the fact that Centre is actively considering to formation of Telangana state.

According to Giri, when the Centre is considering the demand for a Telangana state, the “oldest movement” for a separate state for Gorkhas must have to be given acknowledged. “The Centre is considering the formation of Telangana state. So why should the demand for a sperate state for Gorkha not be considered? We had never said that we have given up the demand for Gorkhaland. We will raise the demand again,” he added.

The GJM is also unhappy that the state government have been delaying the transfer of departments to the GTA. “Only 29 departments have been transferred to the GTA and some of them partially. If the speed of transferring the departments to the GTA is slow and if the process is not accelerated, the GTA will not function smoothly. We feel

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