Writes Upendra for The Darjeeling Chronicle
Following the declaration by GJM that all the hill MLAs would resign from Bengal legislative assembly on September 18th, 2015 as a protest against the regular intervention of Bengal government in the day to day functioning of GTA, on September 12, 2015 Kalimpong MLA Mr. Dr. Harka Bahadur Chettri wrote on his Facebook wall, “A very good decision by the party to withdraw its MLA'S from West Bengal legislative assembly. Hope the party stands by its decision n relieves us from this unproductive n problematic position once n for all.” [Pic attached]
By September 15th, 2015 he had started to complain about “not being consulted while the decision was taken.”
Yesterday, September 18th, 2015 Dr. Harka B Chettri announced his resignation from GJM and cited, “arbitrary and top-down decision making on the part of Morcha chief Bimal Gurung” as the reason for his departure from Morcha.
While many people were surprised by the seemingly abrupt resignation by Dr. Chettri, most political observers were actually anticipating such a move on his part, for a while now.
Why so?
Well, let me take you back about a year ago when Dr. Chettri had declared “Indre ko bau Chandre le pani Gorkhaland lyaunu sakdaina,” the unfolding that happened yesterday, wasn’t actually abrupt. As the statement shows, the dice was in play for a long time, and yesterday is when the chips fell in their respective places.
KALIMPONG DISTRICT
To understand the resignation, we have to understand the demand for forming Kalimpong as a separate district and how it plays nicely with Dr. Chettri’s resignation.
GJM has officially supported the formation of a separate district for Kalimpong, as it would mean more central assistance to the hills. On March 8th, 2015 Dr. Chettri formally raised the issue of forming Kalimpong as a separate district in the West Bengal legislative assembly, and other two MLAs Dr. Rohit Sharma and Mr. Trilok Dewan had also extended their moral support to the demand. However, they stated that the issue should have been discussed within GJM first. When asked to comment on, ‘GJM remaining in the dark regarding the district demand,’ Dr. Chettri had responded, “that is what Morcha will have you believe… but do you think that the three MLAs would speak so freely in support of the demand, had it not been approved by the Central committee?” [Details: http://bit.ly/1OkmjuZ]
Observing the development, I had seen a Morcha hand in Dr. Chettri’s demand and had commented, “A new district will mean many positives for the region, a whole new administrative infrastructure needs to be put in place which means more employment opportunities. New subdivisions and blocks will be formed which means it will be easier to provide development in the remotest of parts like Todey-Tangta which is yet to get road or electricity connectivity till date, but most important of all, it will mean that there will be substantial increase in the funds allocated to the hills.
The logic being there is a certain amount of funds earmarked for each district every year, both by the state and the Center, if Kalimpong is made a separate district, naturally more funds will flow into the hills and Morcha would take credit for the same.”
On March 31st 2015, Dr. Chettri met with Ms. Mamata Banerjee and submitted a memorandum to her for making Kalimpong a separate district, while she was on a three day tour of Kalimpong.
The GJM bosses were not happy, not that he had demanded a separate district, but that he had met with Mamata, however they did not outrage in public.
The fissure which opened to become a full blown crack yesterday, was set into place back then itself.
RESIGNATION AND MAMATA
So what made Dr. Chettri to change his stand from, “A very good decision by the party to withdraw its MLA'S from West Bengal legislative assembly” on September 12th to “I am resigning from GJM as I cannot tolerate the dictatorial attitude of Bimal Gurung” on September 18th?
Dr. Chettri for better or for the worse has always been more admiring of Mamata than other two MLAs, and he has attended political programs even in cases when Mamata was boycotted by other Morcha leaders. Like when he accompanied Mamata on her trip to Suntalaykhola. Like him conveniently dropping acid on his eyes and rushing to Kolkata for treatment, right in time to vote for TMC candidates in Rajya Sabha election.
The secret meeting between Dr. Chettri and Mamata in Delo may hold the key to the question on why Dr. Chettri changed his tune. We will not know what exactly was deliberated upon, but whatever it was, it emboldened Dr. Harka to offer his resignation from GJM.
WHAT NEXT?
I have been writing on Darjeeling ko political scenario for the past 9 years, and from my vantage point this is what I can see happening. This is speculation and educated guess from my part, and I may be wrong, so I would request the readers to use caution while reading the following passages.
Dr. Chettri is one of the smarter politicians in Darjeeling, and from what I can see; he will not join TMC just like that, as it does not benefit him or the TMC. If he joins TMC right away then people the hills will see him as a traitor to the Gorkhaland cause, who chose to leave one party for the other when asked to resign.
So in my opinion, he will play the waiting game, in the knowledge that eventually his doors to TMC will open up.
When will that be?
I think that TMC will bring in Dr. Chettri as a triumphant hero, who gave up GJM for the sake of the people of Kalimpong. So within a few months, I am expecting TMC to announce the formation of Kalimpong as a separate district, and they will project Dr. Chettri as a HERO who saved Kalimpong. Once that happens, it will naturally open the doors for Dr. Chettri to join TMC, with people having no reason to complain.
The implications of such a move are massive. If you look at all the Development Boards that have been formed, almost all of them have strong presence in Kalimpong. With potentially GNLF supporting TMC (like they had done during 2014 MP elections), and the bonhomie generated from the formation of a new district, TMC can seek to dislodge GJM from Kalimpong in the upcoming 2016 MLA elections.
I would not be surprised if TMC hands over the hill reigns to Dr. Chettri in that eventuality.
But, this is just speculation on my part, and I hope to God that I am wrong, and that Dr. Chettri was honestly following his “conscience” while resigning from GJM, but not from the MLA seat.
However, as senior political analyst NN Ojha sir commented, “Under the anti-defection law in force if he leaves the party on whose ticket he contested and won the election he HAS TO resign as MLA. If he doesn't resign he is simply thrown out by the speaker as per law. Therefore it is not his sweet will to decide whether or not to resign as MLA once he decided to leave the party. It is a pity that he doesn't know this basic legal position”
Will Harka perish in the political mess he has gotten himself into? or will he emerge as the “Saviour of Kalimpong”?
Only time will tell.
Via TheDC
Following the declaration by GJM that all the hill MLAs would resign from Bengal legislative assembly on September 18th, 2015 as a protest against the regular intervention of Bengal government in the day to day functioning of GTA, on September 12, 2015 Kalimpong MLA Mr. Dr. Harka Bahadur Chettri wrote on his Facebook wall, “A very good decision by the party to withdraw its MLA'S from West Bengal legislative assembly. Hope the party stands by its decision n relieves us from this unproductive n problematic position once n for all.” [Pic attached]
 |
| Harka Bahadur Chettri wrote on his Facebook wall |
Yesterday, September 18th, 2015 Dr. Harka B Chettri announced his resignation from GJM and cited, “arbitrary and top-down decision making on the part of Morcha chief Bimal Gurung” as the reason for his departure from Morcha.
While many people were surprised by the seemingly abrupt resignation by Dr. Chettri, most political observers were actually anticipating such a move on his part, for a while now.
Why so?
Well, let me take you back about a year ago when Dr. Chettri had declared “Indre ko bau Chandre le pani Gorkhaland lyaunu sakdaina,” the unfolding that happened yesterday, wasn’t actually abrupt. As the statement shows, the dice was in play for a long time, and yesterday is when the chips fell in their respective places.
KALIMPONG DISTRICT
To understand the resignation, we have to understand the demand for forming Kalimpong as a separate district and how it plays nicely with Dr. Chettri’s resignation.
GJM has officially supported the formation of a separate district for Kalimpong, as it would mean more central assistance to the hills. On March 8th, 2015 Dr. Chettri formally raised the issue of forming Kalimpong as a separate district in the West Bengal legislative assembly, and other two MLAs Dr. Rohit Sharma and Mr. Trilok Dewan had also extended their moral support to the demand. However, they stated that the issue should have been discussed within GJM first. When asked to comment on, ‘GJM remaining in the dark regarding the district demand,’ Dr. Chettri had responded, “that is what Morcha will have you believe… but do you think that the three MLAs would speak so freely in support of the demand, had it not been approved by the Central committee?” [Details: http://bit.ly/1OkmjuZ]
Observing the development, I had seen a Morcha hand in Dr. Chettri’s demand and had commented, “A new district will mean many positives for the region, a whole new administrative infrastructure needs to be put in place which means more employment opportunities. New subdivisions and blocks will be formed which means it will be easier to provide development in the remotest of parts like Todey-Tangta which is yet to get road or electricity connectivity till date, but most important of all, it will mean that there will be substantial increase in the funds allocated to the hills.
The logic being there is a certain amount of funds earmarked for each district every year, both by the state and the Center, if Kalimpong is made a separate district, naturally more funds will flow into the hills and Morcha would take credit for the same.”
On March 31st 2015, Dr. Chettri met with Ms. Mamata Banerjee and submitted a memorandum to her for making Kalimpong a separate district, while she was on a three day tour of Kalimpong.
The GJM bosses were not happy, not that he had demanded a separate district, but that he had met with Mamata, however they did not outrage in public.
The fissure which opened to become a full blown crack yesterday, was set into place back then itself.
RESIGNATION AND MAMATA
So what made Dr. Chettri to change his stand from, “A very good decision by the party to withdraw its MLA'S from West Bengal legislative assembly” on September 12th to “I am resigning from GJM as I cannot tolerate the dictatorial attitude of Bimal Gurung” on September 18th?
 |
| Dr. Harka Bahadur Chettri with Mamata |
The secret meeting between Dr. Chettri and Mamata in Delo may hold the key to the question on why Dr. Chettri changed his tune. We will not know what exactly was deliberated upon, but whatever it was, it emboldened Dr. Harka to offer his resignation from GJM.
WHAT NEXT?
I have been writing on Darjeeling ko political scenario for the past 9 years, and from my vantage point this is what I can see happening. This is speculation and educated guess from my part, and I may be wrong, so I would request the readers to use caution while reading the following passages.
Dr. Chettri is one of the smarter politicians in Darjeeling, and from what I can see; he will not join TMC just like that, as it does not benefit him or the TMC. If he joins TMC right away then people the hills will see him as a traitor to the Gorkhaland cause, who chose to leave one party for the other when asked to resign.
So in my opinion, he will play the waiting game, in the knowledge that eventually his doors to TMC will open up.
When will that be?
I think that TMC will bring in Dr. Chettri as a triumphant hero, who gave up GJM for the sake of the people of Kalimpong. So within a few months, I am expecting TMC to announce the formation of Kalimpong as a separate district, and they will project Dr. Chettri as a HERO who saved Kalimpong. Once that happens, it will naturally open the doors for Dr. Chettri to join TMC, with people having no reason to complain.
The implications of such a move are massive. If you look at all the Development Boards that have been formed, almost all of them have strong presence in Kalimpong. With potentially GNLF supporting TMC (like they had done during 2014 MP elections), and the bonhomie generated from the formation of a new district, TMC can seek to dislodge GJM from Kalimpong in the upcoming 2016 MLA elections.
I would not be surprised if TMC hands over the hill reigns to Dr. Chettri in that eventuality.
But, this is just speculation on my part, and I hope to God that I am wrong, and that Dr. Chettri was honestly following his “conscience” while resigning from GJM, but not from the MLA seat.
However, as senior political analyst NN Ojha sir commented, “Under the anti-defection law in force if he leaves the party on whose ticket he contested and won the election he HAS TO resign as MLA. If he doesn't resign he is simply thrown out by the speaker as per law. Therefore it is not his sweet will to decide whether or not to resign as MLA once he decided to leave the party. It is a pity that he doesn't know this basic legal position”
Will Harka perish in the political mess he has gotten himself into? or will he emerge as the “Saviour of Kalimpong”?
Only time will tell.
Via TheDC
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