The Hindu : National : GJM team to hold talks with Pranab

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GJM team to hold talks with Pranab

KOLKATA: A nine-member delegation of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) led by its general secretary, Roshan Giri, left for New Delhi on Tuesday for talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to determine the agenda for the proposed tripartite talks to end the political stalemate in the Darjeeling hills. “The discussions with Mr. Mukherjee will in all probability be held on Wednesday,” Benoy Tamang, a GJM spokesman, told The Hindu over telephone from Darjeeling.

“The subject of any tripartite discussion on the political situation in the Darjeeling hills can be nothingelse but the creation of a separate State of Gorkhaland. If Mr. Mukherjee is not agreeable to this, the GJM leadership will decide on its next course of action,” Mr. Tamang said.“The State Government is speaking of Secretary-level tripartite discussions. We are against this and demand that the tripartite talks be at the political level as the statehood demand is a political issue.” he added.

The GJM leadership has dismissed suggestions by Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, on granting greater financial and administrative powers to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. - PTI

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