In an unsettling development ahead of the August 11 tripartite talks on the issue of a separate state of Gorkhaland, the state government on Wednesday turned down a resolution adopted by the chairpersons of the three municipalities of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, all from the Gorkha Janamukti Morch (GJM), for running the administration of the three municipalities whose terms expired on July 31.

The GJM had earlier stalled the election of the three civic bodies due on June 16 and no nomination could be filed because of the opposition from the Gorkha outfit.

As the term of the three municipalities ended on July 31, the state government designated the SDOs of the three sub-divisions as administrators of the three municipalities. The chairpersons of the municipalities were also put on the board with the administrator at the top.

But on August 1, the chairpersons of the three civic bodies, Pemba Tshering of Darjeeling, Norden Lama of Kalimpong and Krishna Limbo of Kurseong, adopted a resolution saying that the administration of the three civic bodies would continue to be looked after by the chairmen-in-council. They even issued cheques for payment of staff salaries and other expenses.

The resolution reached the Writers’ Buildings on August 3.

The administrators, as soon as they came to know of the incident of issuing cheques, sent out notices to the concerned banks not to honour any such cheque even though cheques sent by the Darjeeling municipality had been cleared by the banks.

“The move undertaken by the three municipalities is unconstitutional and contrary to the Municipal Act. We will tell them that any such move is not acceptable to us. The banks have also been told not to clear the cheques,” a state government official told The Indian Express.

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