The All India Gorkha League (Bharati Tamang camp) today took out a protest rally, carrying the effigy of Darjeeling MP Raju Bista to his house at Hermitage, where they handed over placards that questioned why a tripartite meeting for the ‘Permanent Political Solution’ (PPS) had yet not been held.
Mr Bista had in August claimed that an invitation for tripartite talks to discuss the PPS would be sent out to the concerned parties by 12 August and that the meeting would be held by the first week of September. He had made such statements after meeting of representatives of the BJP alliance parties from the Hills with Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
“Till now, such a tripartite meeting has not been held, nor the process for it started. Only vague reasons are being given for it not being held like the Afghanistan issue. Today, we handed over some questions to him at his house, where we have reminded him that the August 12 deadline is over and it is now the first week of September but no tripartite meeting has been held. We have also asked if it was the Darjeeling MLA or the MP who was lying, or the Home Minister,” AIGL general secretary SP Sharma said.
The AIGL had in August also staged a hunger strike, in which Mr Sharma had held such a protest for a few days. He withdrew the fast-unto-death after the announcement for a tripartite meeting then. “We will continue this programme every week until something concrete comes from the MP side,” said Mr Sharma.
Today, members of the AIGL faction carried the effigy of Mr Bista, garlanded with shoes, from their office at Ladenla Road and took it to his house at Hermitage where they handed the placards to Mr Bista’s PA. On the other hand, Mr Sharma maintained that nothing official had come from the court for the use of the ABGL office here, even as the Pratap Khati faction of the party had said it had filed a case against them.
“The court has asked our version of it, and we will be keeping it in the court and giving the answer legally,” said Mr Sharma. Reacting to this, Mr Bista, meanwhile, said that he does not have time to waste over “such frivolous theatrics.” “I don’t know which group is now carrying my effigy around, is it the same group that earlier staged the fake hunger strike, or is this a new one?” he said.
“I don’t know what they are trying to prove, or whom they are trying to please by doing such nautanki, because the people of my constituency are definitely not amused,” he added.
According to the MP, who is also the spokesperson for the BJP, the Home Minister has already said that he will call for the talks in September and that the stakeholders will get their invitations well in time. “Personally, I have been very busy with the preparations for the tripartite talks and getting the necessary documents readied for the same,” he said.