Even as he was beleaguered by the Singur deadlock, there was a spot of relief for Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on the Gorkhaland issue. With little fanfare and even less media coverage, the first round of tripartite talks between the Centre, State Government and the Darjeeling Hill parties led by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) was held in New Delhi earlier this month.

Only two months ago, the situation in the Darjeeling Hills was approaching critical mass, with the Bimal Gurung-led GJM upping the ante and shutting down the district for nearly a month. Sikkim’s only lifeline — the NH-31A passing through Darjeeling — was closed to traffic by GJM bandh enforcers, shops selling essential commodities remained shut and a “non-cooperation” movement was launched which put a stop to payment of government taxes and levies, and changed most vehicle numberplates from “West Bengal” to “Gorkhaland”.

Parleys between the state government and the GJM ended in a stalemate with the former refusing to consider a separate Gorkhaland state. Finally, an unwilling Centre decided to form the third apex of the triangle and agreed to tripartite talks. Based on this assurance, the GJM withdrew its bandh and let normalcy return to the hills.

The GJM is somewhat happy that it has been able to get the Centre’s attention towards the Gorkhland issue. The GJM delegation’s return to Darjeeling was marked by a whistle-stop tour of the district and a series of public meetings. Senior party leaders indicated that the “non-cooperation” movement is expected to be relaxed anytime.

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