It was a tricky situation, made to look easy with the coming of a new party to power in 2011. Raiding on the popular wave of “Maa, Mati, Manush” the Trinmool congress chief Mamata Banerjee did not waste any time in calling for a true with the hill leaders and forming the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. Even the hill leaders were happy with the way things were progressing back then. Finally, Gorkhaland had found mention in the nomenclature of an administrative body and it was seen as a stepping toward a full statehood. The state government was happy and its Chief Mamata Banerjee claimed time and again, “pahar haschey” – the hills are smilling
3 years down the line, today her party workers in the plains want to know how to deal with GJM and the resurgent Gorkhaland demand in the coming days.
Mamata has mishandled the Darjeeling situation in more than one way, her repeated barb in Darjeeling itself proclaiming Darjeeling to be “Bangaler abhinno anga” – [Bengal's inseparable part] left many with sour taste in their mouth. Her repeated interference in the functioning of GTA and even refusing the GTA a right to choose their own Chief Secretary and instead of giving a choice of candidate showed the hill leaders time and again that Mamata was just waiting for time to pass by, until she strikes against them. Her regular interference in the functioning of GTA not only made the hill leaders angry, but also the people to question her sincerity towards the agreement made in 2011. He ploys at dividing the hill people by granting favours and special bodies to certain sections of the hill society, also did not go well with the hill folks.
When shove came to push during the resurfaced Gorkhaland agitation in 2013, Mamata used all the force she could muster to quell the demand. Numerous GJM leaders, innocent civilians, and even businessmen were arrested, and many tortured. Trying to divide the hill community and governing by means of fear and intimidation did not go unnoticed and almost the entire hills firmly stood together when it mattered. As a response to the administrative high handedness, the GJM sided with the BJP and helped the BJP to win handsomely in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Which has led to a resurgence for both the GJM and the Gorkhaland demand.
Now TMC leaders in North Bengal are not sure how to address the GJM and the Gorkhaland demand. Because this time around, GJM is a part of the ruling NDA in the center and TMC will not get a easy walkout dealing with the hills by the use of force, they used to get when spineless UPA was in power. TMC will now have to fight for every inch, where as earlier they could walk about free.
This is reflected in the dread shown by some TMC leaders, one of whom said, “We don’t know whether to go aggressively against GJM or to try to make them friendly once again. Hopefully the leadership will be able to finalize a proper guideline on that.”
TMC is today caught in a classic Catch-22 situation, where by they cannot let GJM a free hand in dictating the Darjeeling agenda, but at the same time, if they don’t then TMC’s existence in the Darjeeling region in the short run and all of north-Bengal in the long run could be in serious jeopardy.
Explaining the catch a TMC insider said, “It was not easy to get people out of GJM and get under our flag. They had to suffer a lot but remained with us with some expectation. Unless we can ensure their interest now by handling GJM with tough hands, they will again leave us.”
Given that TMC failed to perform well in three out of the four assembly constituencies in the plains – Siliguri, Matigara and Phansidewa – it might want to go a bit easy in the hills for the time being and try to consolidate its base in the plains. However, if GJM-BJP-KPP-JMM(D) group can continue with their alliance, the chances that Trinmool may become Nirmool in the foothills of Darjeeling are very high.